Shattered
by sailorraven34
Summary: Twelve years after Vanessa's 'death', Otto and the others have graduated and are now living normal lives, until a woman named Blu and a girl named Jessica appear out of nowhere and shatter their world.
1. Max

**This story takes place twelve years after Vanessa's 'death'.**

Maxamillian Montov opened his eyes and saw red.

"Ow." He mumbled.

"Sh." said a voice. He opened and closed his eyes again, and he could see Avery leaning over him. "I'm guessing your escape attempt didn't work."

"No duh." Max rubbed his head. "Overlord caught me." He sighed. "But I was so close…"

"I saw someone new today." Avery said.

"What do you mean? A new… kid?" Max said.

"Yes." Avery helped him to his feet. He leaned on her shoulder and started helping him to his bed. "A girl. She's a ginger with a ton of freckles… looks kind of like a bird. And her eyes…"

"Her eyes?" Max probed.

"Green." Avery said. "Bright green. The color you described."

Max had lived in captivity since he was a baby. The only thing he could remember from his life before them was a girl with green eyes like a highlighter. He didn't know her face even, just her eyes… and her laugh.

She laughed a lot.

Avery and her brother Jack also lived like this, along with a couple dozen other children. They lived in what could almost be a normal city… except for the fact that it was inescapable and ruled by children. And Max was sort of in charge. He'd been there the longest, and most of the other kids looked up to him. He didn't really want to be a leader, though. He just wanted to get out of there. And figure out about his past.

"Where is she now?" he asked.

"Probably at the main house." That was the biggest structure in the 'city.' It was the only one that had actually been properly constructed. The other houses were more like tents. "But I don't recommend going there." Avery frowned. "You're hurt… and she was with a woman." She bit her lip. "She scared me."

"The girl?"

"The woman." Avery shrugged. "It was just a feeling." She paused. "She had a scar. The woman. Down one cheek."

"There's something you aren't telling me." Max said gently.

"The woman… she had wings."


	2. Xander

I yawned.

"Xander, wake up!" Jinx hissed, kicking me in the shin. "You can't fall asleep yet… just five minutes until the bell."

"But then I have to walk home." I whispered back. "Because Otto's off with Ana again…"

Jinx sighed. "Are you sure he's seeing her? Because I don't want it to be you making things up again. Those librarians were pretty hacked off at us."

"I saw them smooching, Jinx!" I growled. "And we vowed never to speak of the hotdog/librarian incident again, remember?"

"Yes…" Jinx sighed. "Does your mom know?"

"Of course not." I said. "She doesn't think that something like that would ever happen."

The bell rang. Jinx slung her backpack over her shoulder. She's a pretty plain-looking girl, except for the fact that her hair is literally pink. And she doesn't dye it or anything… it's just like that. Grown-ups call it strawberry blond, but the truth is, it's _pink_. And I don't like her or anything. We're more like cousins. That's what everyone calls it anyway, because no one can figure out exactly how we're related.

I stood up and followed her. We met my sisters, Bryony and Iris outside. Bryony is five and Iris is eight, and they're both really annoying. Jinx doesn't have any siblings. Or any family, other than her mother and her wacky grandpa who no one really understands.

"Hurry up!" Iris complained. "My feet are cold." She rubbed her nose. "It's _freezing_…"

"That's because it's November and you're wearing shorts." I pointed out.

"Yeah, well…" Iris mumbled.

We spent the walk home bickering, as always. At my street, Jinx waved goodbye and continued in the other direction. I opened the screen door and put my key in the lock. "Mo-"

The door banged open, knocking me to the ground. A woman stepped out. "You're being a fool, Laura." She hissed.

"Shut up!" my mom yelled. I had never seen her so angry. "Leave our family alone, Natalya!"

The woman, Natalya rolled her eyes. "Talk to Otto!" she snapped. "Or you'll lose him forever."


	3. Jessa

"Who's Natalya?" I asked my mom. She was standing a little down the hall, looking upset.

"She's… she's…" Laura shrugged. "It's a really long story. She's a friend… but she's not very nice." She sighed. "Do the three of you have homework?"

"I do!" Bryony yelled. She ran over and hugged their mother. "I have to find something for show and tell tomorrow. And it has to start with the letter p."

"Okay…" Laura took Bryony's hand and led her into the kitchen.

Iris yawned. "I call the computer."

"What?" I snapped. "No fair!"

"I'm almost done with this code." Iris grumbled. "It'll take me fifteen minutes, max."

Iris is a genius like Mom and Dad. She reads a ton and can do _anything _with a computer. Which is really annoying…

"Fine." I muttered. I stomped upstairs and flopped onto my bed. I thought about my parents. I knew they had been forced together when they were still in school by my birth. Otto had married my mom when she got pregnant with Iris. But that didn't necessarily mean that he wanted this to happen… which explained the thing with Ana. Sort of. There wasn't really an excuse…

###

Jessica Finch looked around the giant hanger sized room she was in. She sat down on the front steps of the little house. "What is this place?"

"It's for the kids like you." Blu crossed her arms and leaned against the post of the deck.

"What do you mean, the ones that are stolen?" Jessa asked.

"No." Blu snorted. "The ones that aren't wanted." She flexed her wings, then they vanished again. Jessa couldn't help staring. Blu couldn't really fly, but she could glide and she certainly wouldn't be killed by falling. Blu reminded her of someone too, but she wasn't sure who.

"Not wanted?" Jessa asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Your parents don't care enough about you to save you," Blu said. "After the 50,000 dollar check they received in the mail."

Jessa bit her lip. "You're lying."

Blue shrugged. "Same thing happened to me."


	4. Laura

Blu yawned. "Look, kid. I gotta go."

"Okay…" Jessa looked at her, her eyes frightened. "What am I going to do?"

"Wait for her." Blu pointed at the approaching figure of a girl with long brown hair. "Her name's Avery."

"Okay…" Jessa said. She sat down on the railing as Blu turned to walk off. She watched the woman, but a few feet down the street, she disappeared.

Strange. Jessa waited for the girl, Avery, and when she finally got there, she stood up. "Are you Avery?" she asked.

"Yes." The girl said. "Avery Lennox. Come with me."

###

Laura opened the door and saw Ana. She was pale, and somehow made a shabby pair of jeans and a t-shirt look as glamorous as a designer dress. "Can I talk to you?"

Laura was a little confused. "Why are you here?"

"I need to talk to you!" Ana exclaimed, anger flashing across her face. For a moment, she looked familiar… very familiar. Laura stepped away from the door. "Sure, knock yourself out."

Ana entered the house hesitantly. "Nice… house."

"Thanks." Laura turned to face her, crossing her arms. "So is this about Otto?"

Ana flinched. "O…tto?"

"Yes, Otto Malpense. My husband." Laura glared at Ana. "Who I believe you've been going out with for the past year?"

Ana blinked.

"Answer the question." Laura said coolly.

"Yes." Ana said, staring down at her hands. "And now I'm knocked up."

Laura snorted. "Congratulations. And you came crawling to me because you think I'm soft and gullible and I'd help you?! Well, guess what. I'm not going to!"

She sat down on the couch, looking away from Ana.

"You're right." Ana muttered. She started towards the door. "I'll be going then."

"Wait." Laura said. "I'm not done." She stood up and grabbed Ana by the shoulders. "I know I shouldn't help you… but I know how it feels to be alone like this." She reached down and petted the cat that wound around her ankles. "So… let's call this a truce."

She held out her hand.

Ana hesitated a little before shaking it.


	5. Shopping

**Laura**

As Ana left, I grabbed the phone and yelled "XANDER! I'M GOING OUT. YOU'RE IN CHARGE!" I dialed Shelby's number. She answered on the second ring.

"He-llo?"

"Hi. I really need to talk to you." I said, yanking on my shoes and coat and going out the door.

"Well, I'm at the mall. So if you need it that bad…"

"It's an emergency."

"Then you get over here."

I climbed into the car and twenty minutes later located Shelby, her arms full of shopping bags. "So what is it?" she asked, flipping through a rack of shirts.

"Otto was cheating on me with Ana and now she's pregnant and she told me and I don't know what to do." I said all in a rush.

"Ditch him." Shelby said. "Awe… this shirt is cute but this color makes me look like I'm dead." She held it up to my chest. "It would look good on you, though."

"What? Er… I guess so." I swatted it away. "You mean get divorced?!"

"Sure. I mean, if he wants Ana so bad, let him have her."

"But I love him! And I'm pregnant too!"

"A), you have a weird life, b) if he loves you it doesn't count." She held up a black blouse. "No?"

"No." I frowned. "Should I confront him about it?"

"Duh. I'll come too if you need support."

"No, I think it should just be the two of us." I glanced at my watch. "Dammit. He'll be getting home soon and I have no idea what to do-o-o!"

"Just go up to him and say "I know what you're doing and you need to stop or it's over." And then come over to my house because there's this movie I wanna watch but Wing won't watch it with me." She smiled. "It's supposed to be really funny-"

"Shel, can you stay on topic for five minutes?!"

"What? Look, let's hit one more store and then you can go home, okay?"

"Okay…" I muttered.

"OMG this is so cute!" Shelby squealed. "You HAVE to try it on!"

Oh, god.


	6. Otto

I drove back to my house and went inside. Otto was sitting at the table, holding…a gun? What was going on?

"Otto?" I said. I looked up. I could see Iris and Xander spying on us from the stairs. "I- I need to talk to you."

He said nothing.

There was something wrong with the two kids. They looked… really, really scared.

"I know what you're doing." I said. I couldn't look at him. I had to look at him. Why couldn't I look at him?!

"I don't know what you are." He said. His voice was full of pain. He stood up, crossing his arms. "Who are you, and what the hell have you done with my Laura?"

"I haven't done anything!" Something was off. Otto seemed frightened too. "What are you talking about?" I shook my head. "Nevermind. You need to stop screwing around with Ana. She's-"

Otto fired at me.

Otto fired at me!

OTTO FIRED AT ME!

I gasped, dodging it easily. It hadn't been meant to kill me, or probably even to hit me. But still. He'd done it.

"Go." He hissed, advancing on me. I took a step back.

"O-otto, what's going on?" Is he trying to make it look like I'm the one who's done something wrong? Is he this desperate? "Stop this right now!"

Otto pressed the gun to my chest. "I said GO!"

"But… but…" I whispered. "I can't- my life is here- our family-"

"You don't have a right to them after what you've done." He cocked it.

"After what I've done? You're the one who's-"

"Leave NOW, you-" Otto snarled.

I gasped. "You… what? What are you _doing_?"

"Do you not understand? LEAVE! AND NEVER COME BACK!"

He jammed the gun in harder. What could I do? I turned around, and raced out the door into the night wondering what the heck was going on.


	7. Jinx

**Jinx**

I sat on the edge of my bed and glared down at my notebook full of math problems. I'd tried to explain to my mother that she shouldn't leave me alone to go out with That Guy (otherwise known as Walter, my mother's boyfriend.) because I could get kidnapped by a mad pirate or something. But that did not mean… that she should leave me here with my crazy grandpa!

"Are you sure you don't want a snack?" He was glaring at me like I'd done something wrong, which I hadn't. But he runs a school for 'bad kids' so I guess he's used to glaring.

"Yes, very sure." My mom had gone on and on about how lucky we were that he was in town so that he could look after me, but I wasn't fooled. I was pretty sure Lucy Presscott, Xander's parent's VERY bossy friend was really in charge. (I'm not totally sure how you become friends with Lucy. I've decided that you don't. Lucy just decides that _she _is _your _friend and you're stuck with her.)

"Fine then." He left my room, leaving me in peace. Thank god. I started going through the problems, doing the easy ones, and starting the hard ones then scribbling in random numbers. Xander could help me study before the test, so that would be fine. Er… seven times six was forty two, not fifty six… right?

"Jinx?"

I stood up. "Yeah?"

"You should come and look at this." he said.

"Look at what?"

"Just hurry up!"

I walked into our living room. Our apartment is tiny, and our couch is diminutive, so I was practically sitting on my grandfather's lap as I started at the TV screen. All I could see were… smoldering ruins.

"That's a glove building." My grandfather muttered. At least, that's what I thought he said. I must have been wrong, because that made no sense.

"What happened?" I said.

"I'm not sure." He stood up. "We're going."

"Where?" I said. I frowned. "Wait, why?"

"The council is obviously not going to take place." He glared at me. "Come on."

"Wut?" I said.

"Get your shoes on, and get in the car." He hissed. "Fast."

"Why, are we in danger or something?" I said.

He said nothing, but he didn't have to. The expression on his face told the whole story.


	8. Blu

**Blu**

I stepped down from the staircase and smiled at the man sitting at the table. "Good job. You did the right thing." I looked into his blue eyes.

"_GETTOFFGETTOFFGETOFFGETOFFGE TTOFF!" she yelled, waving her hands around. This wasn't the best thing to do, because she was standing on one foot. She lost my balance and toppled over. The boy crashed on top of her. This sounds kind of awkward, but seeing as how she was eating cement, she didn't give a lot of thought to it at the time. What she did think about was how much the guy with the white hair looked like he'd dumped a can of bleach on his head. So what came out of her mouth was "Hey, Cute Boy! Can you get me out of here?"_

I frowned. Where had that come from? Who would say stuff like that, anyway? Certainly not me.

"Who are you?" the man said slowly.

I eased the gun from his fingers. "Now, now. You don't need to know that." I tucked the gun inside my belt and opened the door. "In fact, why don't you forget I was ever here?"

I pulled the door shut, just in time to hear the man say "Vanessa?"

_"Who are you?" she growled._

_"Vanessa Montov." She said. The woman faltered for a moment. Then something really weird happened. The fire hose suddenly burst into life and squirted-no, blasted, straight into the woman's face. Her grip on the sword loosened and she ran as fast as she could to the roof's fire escape. _

I snapped my fingers and knew that the man's memories of me had been erased. My job was done, and it had gone faster than expected. I had all the reasons to be satisfied.

So why did I feel so weird?

###

**Ana**

I looked out the window of my apartment. Anything to look away from Peter.

"Do you ever feel like you've missed something?" I said slowly. "Like you were asleep for a few decades and the next thing you know we've got cell phones and iPods and laptops and all that stuff?"

"No." He frowned. "But that's beside the point, Ana. _What _were you thinking?"

"There's a very simple answer to that." I grinned at him. "I wasn't."


	9. Ana

"Well." Peter took a big, long breath. He's a bit of a windbag. "First of all, you need to break up with Otto." He sighed. "I can't believe you would have an affair with someone in the first place-"

"_He_ was the one having the affair." I pointed out. "_I _just… went along with it."

"_Anyway_, then we'll take you to the doctor and see if you're okay." He glared at me. "Can I see your Starbucks card, please?"

Not sure why he needed _that_, I handed it to him.

He snapped it in half.

"HEY!" I yelled, standing up and yanking the pieces from his hands. "NOOOOOO!"

"No more coffee for you." Peter said sternly. "It's not good for you in your condition."

"No… more… coffee?" I whispered. "For… _nine whole months?!"_

"I think you can handle it." Peter said firmly.

"NO I CAN'T!" I bellowed, grabbing a pillow off the couch and hurling it at him. He caught it neatly in one hand.

"Anastasia Furan! Don't THROW things at me!" Peter blinked. "Wait… what?"

"Yeah." I said. "Who on earth is Anastasia Furan? My name's Ana Fabyan."

"I have no idea." Peter shrugged. "Well, whatever." He stood up. "I have to go meet Shaesta."

"Why?" I said. I made a kissing noise. "Are you going on a romantic date?"

"No." Peter growled. "We're going grocery shopping."

"And… why can't she do that by herself?" I said.

"You cannot let Shaesta go grocery shopping by herself." Peter muttered. "Unless you can survive off fudge ripple ice cream, soy sauce and extra crunchy peanut butter."

"Ew." I said, making a face.

"_At the same time_." Peter sighed. "Which is why I have to go. Try not to die, okay?"

"Fine, fine, fine." I mumbled.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He ruffled my hair. "We're going to be seeing a lot more of each other from now on…"

"Great." I growled.


	10. Shelby

**Laura**

I was sitting on Shelby's couch, dripping wet and wondering what on Earth I was going to do now.

"He threw you out?" Shelby said for the fifth time.

"Yep." I shivered. "Anything I can change into?"

"Sure." She tossed me a pair of skinny jeans and a fancy ruffled blouse. I winced. "Er… something _comfortable_?"

"This is comfortable." Shelby said, insulted. "The fabric is very silky."

"Shelby… I'm not really good at fitting into skinny jeans at the moment." I pointed to my stomach.

"Fine." Shelby muttered. "I'll go get something… ugly."

I rolled my eyes and pulled off my wet clothes and wrapped a blanket around my shoulders. I was starting to get really round…._ excellent _timing. I curled up on the couch. Shelby came back with a t-shirt. I pulled it on.

"So now what?" she said, sitting down next to me. "Can we watch that movie now?!"

"No." I snapped. "Do you have any idea what's going on? Is Otto just being weird… or is it something else?"

"Someone bombed a G.L.O.V.E. building." She said. "And… something else happened. I don't know what yet… but it seems to be really bad."

"Okay…" I rubbed my head. "That's not much to go on."

"I wonder if someone framed you for something." Shelby said thoughtfully. "That would make sense." Then she yawned. "Look, it's getting late. You can have the guest room."

"Okay." I went down the hall and climbed under the covers. I was exhausted, but my brain refused to shut off for a long time. Finally I fell asleep.

"_Hello." Vanessa grinned at me. She was wearing a dress shaped like a teacup. "Poor you. You've been chased from your home and your reputation has been destroyed._"

"_My reputation?" I said. "What do you mean?!"_

"_I mean…" She frowned. "WAKE UP!"_

I blinked awake with a start, then gasped. I rubbed my eyes.

I must have still been asleep, because it looked like Shelby was standing over me with a knife.

"Shel?" I said sleepily. "Whuzzamatter?"

Shelby blinked, then brought it down into my chest.


	11. Iris

Otto turned to Xander and Iris. "You two, get to bed."

"But I want to know what's going on!" Iris yelled, stomping her foot.

"Sh!" Otto hissed. "You'll wake your sister. Now go to bed!"

"I don't WANT to!" Iris screamed.

"IRIS-" Otto paused mid-yell and instead picked up Iris and slung her over his shoulder, kicking and screaming. Xander followed them upstairs. Otto dropped Iris on her bed.

"I want to know what's going on." Iris said. She wasn't throwing a temper tantrum any more- her voice was cold and calm.

"Nothing a child needs to know." Otto kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, love." He turned to go.

"I'm not a child." Iris growled. Somehow, she had gotten in front of him. "Tell me _now_."

"No!" Otto yelled. He grabbed her wrist and before he knew what he was doing, he twisted hard, leaving red marks on Iris's arm. Iris shrieked, staring up at him for a moment. Then she darted back to bed.

Otto slammed the door shut, then sank to the floor with a sigh. He was sure he was right in keeping the truth from Iris… but what had happened those last few seconds? Had he hurt her?

He looked up and saw Xander standing across the hall staring at him. "Listen." He said. "She's crying."

Otto stood up. "Look, Xander. I don't want her to know what's going on. She's too young-"

"She's more mature then all the girls in my class put together." Xander said coolly. "Tomorrow- you have to tell her then-"

"I'm going." Otto hissed. "I'm leaving. I have business elsewhere; I'll be back in a little bit."

"With Ana?" Xander sneered.

"No!" Otto yelled. "What are you talking about?!"

"Oh, come on, everyone knows what's going on between you two." Xander scoffed.

Otto opened and shut his mouth several times, trying to figure out what to say. In the end, he took a step forward, ruffling Xander's hair. "Look after your sisters, okay?"

Xander stared at him stupidly as he walked away.

"Xander?" Bryony stared sleepily at him from the door to her room. "Everything okay?"

Xander forced a smiled. "Yep." He said.


	12. Running Away

**Laura**

I brought my hand up, grabbing Shelby's arm. "Shel!"

Shelby blinked. Then she collapsed to the floor and started to cry. "I'm sorry- I'm sorry… he made me do it!"

"Who did?" I asked.

"I… I…" Shelby wiped her face and sat up calmly. "It's not safe for you here… Laura, you'll have to leave."

"But where can I go?!" I spluttered.

"You'll have to figure out something yourself." Shelby said. "You can't trust anyone."

"I… okay." I said.

And that was how I ended up on Ana Fabyan's doorstep ten minutes later. Not like I was asking her for help, or anything. But her brother had access to a Shroud, which I needed to make me escape, so it was to Ana's house I went.

She opened the door, looking bored. Some of my friends considered her Vanessa's replacement, but I scoffed at that. A)even though she and Vanessa had the same (lack of) thought process, Ana was really _mean_, something that Vanessa was lacking in, b) you can't just _replace _ a person, especially one as …_unique_ as Vanessa. This, combined with the Otto-snatching thing meant that there was no lost love between me and her at the moment.

"Hey." Ana said. "Have you come to lecture me?"

"Lecture you?" I was confused. "No…"

"Because I was going to tell you that you too have done this." Ana said with a smirk. "But apparently that's not necessary-"

"It is not the same!" I growled. "A guy held a gun to my head and told me to-"

"Yes, yes, we all know your tragic story." Ana rolled her eyes. "Personally, I just think you and Otto just made that up as an excuse for Xander being born when you were fifteen."

My face got hot. "What?!It's the truth!"

Ana smirked. "Sure, whatever." She stepped aside. "Come in."

I entered and sat down on her couch. "Er…" I said. "I need to borrow… a Shroud."

"Why?"

"I'm running away." I said.

Ana glanced at me for a long moment... then ran across the room and grabbed a pair of scissors. She sat down next to me, then took a lock of my hair in her hand and…. _cut it about four times shorter. _

I jerked away. "What are you _doing_?!"

"You can't go out like that." She said. "You have to change your appearance."

"Why?" I said. "It's not like anyone's looking for me-"

Ana sighed. She stood up and walked to her computer.

"Come and see." She said, rolling her eyes.


	13. Army

Max watched Jessa carefully as she shoveled mouthful after mouthful of salad into her mouth. She didn't seem to be _chewing_, he noticed.

Jess gulped down the last lettuce leaf and sighed. "Sorry." She said, blushing as she set down the bowl. "But I haven't eaten all day…"

"It's fine." Max said. She was wearing a blouse with a green collar. It looked like it might have once had the name of a school embroidered across the pocket, but that was long gone now. "What happened to you?"

"The lady with the wings, Blu showed up at my house and kidnapped me." Jessa said. "But I don't know why?"

"You have some sort of "special talent."" Avery said. "Like… healing people."

Jessa looked confused.

"Has anything _strange_ ever happened to you?" Max asked. "Something that couldn't be explained, no matter how hard you tried?"

"Yes, actually." Jessa said. "I can remember things. Things that have never happened to me."

"What do you mean?" Max asked.

"I mean like falling off the London Eye." Jessa said. "I'm pretty sure I've never done _that_."

That sounded familiar to Max. For a moment, he could picture the girl with green eyes talking, telling him… a story? Then it was gone.

"Well, that's what I mean." Max said, recovering. "Anyway, this man named Overlord gave you that somehow, and now he's rounding us all up for some reason-"

"I know why." Elia Hiduka entered, banging open the door. Her twin brother, Alan, was a few steps behind her. "He's making an army."

"An army of what, kids?" Avery snorted.

"Yeah." Elia poked her in the shoulder. "You got a problem with that?!"

"You two, not now." Max warned.

"Fine." Avery crossed her arms. "But I still think it's stupid."

"Stupid or not, that's what's going on." Max said. "And now we've got to figure out how to stop it."


	14. Natalya

Natalya sat on the floor. Kaito lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Look at you." he said finally. "You could have been great. If you had only not given in."

"You would have lost anyway." Natalya said bitterly.

"Lost against what?" Kaito scoffed. "Children?"

"Children who turned out to be stronger then you." Natalya said.

"Not if we had kept fighting." Kaito hissed.

"You don't know that!" Natalya jumped to her feet.

"If you had kept fighting we could have been great." Kaito didn't move, but his voice seemed to surround her like a blanket, suffocating her. "And now look at you. You're a broken _wreck_, reduced to offering love advice. You can't go anywhere without a guard… you aren't even allowed to fight." Kaito laughed. "_Pathetic._"

Natalya's shoulders started shaking. Kaito smiled, but it faded as he realized she was laughing.

"Pathetic." Natalya said, staring straight into his eyes. "You don't get it. _You're_ the pathetic one." Still laughing, she left the room.

Lucy was waiting for her outside. She no longer had ponytails but there was still a blond streak in her hair.

"I don't like the idea of the two of you talking." Lucy said grumpily. She hated not being in control of things, which was not very often anymore.

"I do." Natalya said. "You wouldn't get it."

Lucy grumbled some more under her breath- she also detested not 'getting it'. But she didn't say anything else as the two made their way up the corridor.

###

**Laura**

I stared down at the image on the screen. It looked like it had once been a city… but now it looked like it had been leveled.

"This is what happened." Ana said. "It was a G.L.O.V.E. weapon that was banned years ago… and now they're saying you used it and killed thousands of people."

"What the _hell_?" I whispered. "And now G.L.O.V.E. is after me…" I started crying. "What am I going to _do?!_"

"First off…" Ana picked up the scissors again. "You are going to let me cut your hair."


	15. Makeover

I stared at the reflection in the mirror. My hair was chin length, and dyed dark brown. Ashe had done something to my face with her makeup and I looked completely different.

"There." Ana said. "Hey, does anyone you know you're… you know." She pointed to my stomach.

"No- just you and Shelby." I said.

"Not even Otto?" Ana asked.

"No… I've lost the last two. I wanted to make sure it wasn't going to die before I told him." I said.

"Ah." Ana sighed. "Well, you'll need to make a big deal out of it. And it would be better if you were with a guy…"

"Why?" I asked.

"Because EVERYONE knows about you and Otto." Ana said, rolling her eyes. "You're like, the drama couple of the century."

"Well thanks." I huffed.

"It's true." Ana sighed. "Hmm. I guess you could go with my brother but my brother is wacko. And he's such a stuck-up weirdo."

"He's pretty good-looking." I muttered.

"_What_ was that?!" Ana spluttered.

"Nothing…" I said.

"But he's with Shaesta… and Shaesta is kind of… well…" Ana rubbed her forehead. "Crap. I'm not supposed to say…"

"O-kay." I said. "That's… great."

"Yep." Ana sighed. "Shaesta is weird… but he's pretty happy." She frowned. "I saw him looking at this old picture… there was this girl who I think was related to Shaesta…"

I wonder if Ana will ever figure out who she used to be. I hope she doesn't. Maybe she's mean now but it used to be a thousand time worse…

"Now clothes." Ana said. "Here, wear this."

I started tugging the dress on, but Ana stopped me. "What's this?"

She was pointing at my scar. It ran from the bottom of my ribs on one side to my hip on the other side.

"Um…" I said. "That's from, um, Xander."

"What, he knifed you?" Ana said, frowning. "I knew your kids were weird, but I didn't know-"

"No- that's how he was, um, born." I flushed.

"Oh." Said Ana. "Wow. That looks like that _hurt_."

It did, but I just shrugged and pulled the dress on. Ana was about twenty times stronger than I was… but she didn't have to know that.


	16. Interogation

SMACK!

Otto winced as the woman backhanded him across the mouth. She had long dark hair pulled back in a bun, green eyes and skin so pale it shown in the moonlight. She wore a gray jean jacket, a white tank top, gray jeans and white combat boots. And behind her stretched out two raven-black wings.

"Now, now." She said tauntingly. "Let's be professional, shall we?"

Otto grunted, glaring at her.

"Whatever." She yawned. "Now… about Xander… what time does he normally get home from school?"

"Four o'clock." Otto growled.

"And today he'll only be with the youngest girl?"

"Yes, Iris is busy." Otto said. "But why do you want to know all this?"

"I'm going to kidnap Xander and kill the brat." The woman said calmly.

"What?!" Otto spluttered. "Don't you touch Bryony!"

"She has no powers. She is not as smart as her sister. Therefore she is useless, and a lose end that needs to be tied up… or cut." She smirked.

Otto said a bad word.

"I _said_ professional…" She smiled. "Did I not introduce myself? My name is Blu."

"Blu?" Otto said. "Is that, like, a code name or whatever?"

"I do not know." Blu said. "It's the name I was given." She shrugged. "It doesn't really matter."

"Okay… Code Name." Otto said, smirking.

"No, I just said my name is Blu." Blu said, crossing her arms.

"And then you said it didn't matter." Otto countered.

"Whatever!" Blu threw up her arms. She pulled off her jacket and tossed it on the floor carelessly, then leaned against the back of the chair Otto was tied to.

"So, are you going to let me go now?" Otto said, trying to sound bored, but inside he was frantic.

"That wouldn't be very fun now, would it?" She ran her fingers through her hair. Otto winced again.

"What, so all of the sudden you can't think about another girl?" Blu said sarcastically. "You were fine with that before now, weren't you?"

Otto said nothing.

"You threw Laura out." Blu hissed in his ear. "She'll never love you again, Otto. And if she does…" Blu shrugged and smiled. "She never has to know."

Otto sighed, then nodded.


	17. Flashback

Jessa saw more kids enter the room. Max quickly introduced them as best as he could- there was Simon Leonarde, Leo Simons, Scott Trowell, Elia and Alan, Shira, who was Avery's sister and Jack who was her brother, Holly Greene and Gracie Brown. The names got all confused in Jessa's head the second after he said them, however. She noticed that though their clothes were all different, they all wore the same jacket- black leather with a high collar and a white stripe across the chest.

"You okay?" Max said. "You look a little… pale."

"Yes." Jessa said. The truth was that these kids reminded her of another group of kids. She didn't know who they were, but they were in her head just the same…

_They were standing in a courtyard, and it was cold. She pulled her blouse closer around her. She was standing next to a red head with green eyes and a petite girl with long blond ponytails, whose uniform was dyed bright pink. As Jessa watched, she blew a bubble with her gum, then quickly snapped it as a man called out to get their attention._

"Oi!" Elia waved her hand in Jessa's face. "You with us or not?"

"With you." Jessa said quickly.

"Good." Elia put her hands on her hips. She had long blond hair braided in a complicated style and periwinkle eyes. "You got a dorm yet, newbie?"

"Er… no?" Jessa spluttered.

"She'll stay with me." Gracie said. She looked like the girl from Jessa's memory, the one with the gum.

"Good." Elia said. "That's taken care of, then. Now what?"

Jessa's vision started blurring, going back to the memory.

"_This is a test of endurance." The man said. She got the idea he was speaking another language, but she didn't know what it was or how she could understand it. "You will run back and forth until you become too tired to continue. Do you understand?"_

_A mummer of assent rang throughout the crowd. They all seemed… tired. Defeated. Strange. _

_There was one girl who especially looked like it. She had long dark hair and bright green eyes, and there was a scar across one cheek. She saw Jessa staring at her, turned around and made a rude gesture at her._

_Well. Maybe she did have some spirit after all. _

"_Ready?" the man yelled. "Go!"_


	18. Murder

**Ana**

_The woman smiled down at the little baby she was holding. Then she passed her over to what looked like Peter, but colder somehow. _

"_You should go let her sleep." I said. _

"_On it." He said, walking quietly away. _

_I looked down at the woman again. She was very pretty. I was ten or eleven, and I was holding… a knife? Why?_

"_Anastasia, is something the matter?" she said, smiling at me._

"_Me?" I said. "No, but something is definitely the matter with _you_." _

_The woman frowned. _

"_You go and get involved with Kaito and then when you want out he blackmails you into having a baby." I hissed. "You never pay attention to me or Pietor anymore. You expect us to accept that our lives are going to be completely destroyed-"_

"_Anastasia." The woman said sharply. "What are you saying?"_

"_Mrrrrrow." A orange and white cat jumped up onto her bed. "Mew, mew, mew." He glared at me, as if to say _She's under my protection, squirt.

_The knife felt cold in my hand. _

"_I can do whatever the hell I want." I growled, then sank the knife into her chest, clapping one hand over her mouth. She gasped, then went still. _

_I pulled the knife out, staring at it, then collapsed onto my knees, sobbing. A man with ginger hair appeared in the corner. _

"_This is how it has to start, you know." He growled. "If you want to become strong, _Furan_."_

_The cat started to meow, louder and Louder and LOUDER-_

I jerked awake. I was lying on the floor. Instead of a knife, I was holding my sock. And there was an orange cat sitting on my chest meowing.

I swore loudly and sat up. "Off, idiot."

The cat gave me an affronted look, then jumped off.

What is wrong with my life?


	19. Anastasia

"Mmmph?" Laura grunted from the couch.

"Your cat is a ^&*^*&)_." I muttered.

"RRREORWL." The cat growled.

I sighed and pulled out my phone. 4:46 AM. Great. Too early to call Peter-

RIIIIING!

I picked up by phone. It was… Peter.

"I just had the wackiest dream." We both said at the same time. But neither of us laughed.

"You go first." I said, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

"Well…" He sounded kind of reluctant. "There was a girl… and a boy."

"Woah." I said. "That is _terrifying_."

"I'm not done, Ana!" Peter snapped. "You were there… so was I… you told them to fight and she killed them."

"You're delusional." I said loftily. "Why would I want to make kids fight to the death?"

"I don't know, Ana." He sighed. "Just tell me what you saw."

I quickly relayed my dream to him. He was silent for so long, I thought he'd hung up.

"You know, that's the last thing I can remember." He said. "Zoe was about to be born and then it's just a big blank until we met Otto and the others." He was quiet for a while again. "I think…. Either someone made us forget…. or it was so awful we made ourselves forget."

"Is that possible?" I said.

"Yes." He said. "I read it in-"

I tuned him out. So… I had killed my own mum? The thought was so awful it nearly made me sick- no, it was making me sick-

"Gimme a sec." I said, then ran into the bathroom. I made it just in time.

Ten minutes later, I picked up the phone again. "You still there?"

"That was not a sec." Peter said, annoyed.

"Yeah, well, I feel like total crap so cut me some slack." I wiped my mouth on my sleeve.

He sighed. "Look, I'll be by in the afternoon to take you to the doctor, okay?"

"I don't need your help!" I snarled, then slammed the 'end call' button with my finger. I tossed the cell phone onto my bed.

Why had I snapped at him like that? I felt different somehow. It was almost like… a dam had broken inside of me, letting something new flood out. I wasn't sure whether that would be a good thing or a bad thing… but there was no going back.


	20. Aida Lily

Otto groaned and rubbed his head. Where was he? What was going on?

He found he was sitting in a parked car on a street that was vaguely familiar. Blu was gone. He was sure he'd fallen asleep in her arms back in wherever she'd interrogated him… she must have moved him.

He tried to think. She'd kidnapped him… and she was going to kill…. Bryony?

"Crap!" Otto climbed out of the car and looked around. He knew where he was- still in the same city as his children. He could still get there… he hoped.

He glanced down at his arm. Something had been written there… a phone number. Blu's? He wasn't sure why, but he was attracted to her for reasons other then her body. It almost seemed like they'd met before…. maybe she'd been a student. He shrugged. Whatever the reason, he hoped they'd meet again.

###

_The man went over to the girl with blond hair as Jessa began running. She could hear them talking as her feet carried her across the space. _

"_What are you doing, Brown? Do you think you are some sort of a princess?" he hissed._

"_As a matter of fact I do." The girl smiled. "I AM a princess, and my parents have sent me here so I can meet the people who will be in the future sent to kill me." _

_Jessa didn't hear what the man said, but he sounded angry. He started circling around the girl. _

"_You know, vultures do that." The girl said, rolling her eyes. _

_The man's lip curled. "Why you little-"_

_The girl blew a bubble with her gum, then popped it all over his face. She laughed as she started off. _

"_Aida Lily."_

_A woman materialized out of seemingly nowhere, grabbing the girl's wrist. The girl, Aida Lily froze, looking terrified. _

_Jessa went over to them. "What are you doing to her?!" she snarled. Her voice was different, and much stronger. _

"_She is my student and she should respect me and your father." The woman said coldly. _

_Jessa snickered. "Maybe she only respects people who deserve it, instead of the ones who terrorize her." She heard herself hiss. As the words escaped her, she wanted to take them back but couldn't._

_SMACK!_

_Jessa hit the ground hard, her cheek stinging._

This is not me.


	21. Hotdogs

Blu yawned as she drove towards the Malpense's house. She didn't understand why, but she felt like she'd known that man before. Strange-

She pinched her arm. _Stop this. You are above feelings or emotions. _Bad enough that she'd told Otto so much of her plan. He'd try to rescue his children… but that was alright. Her boss had told her that he lacked physical skill. That meant that it would be simple to neutralize him. Annoyingly, she wasn't allowed to kill him and get it over with…

She had arrived the house. She parked a few blocks away then closed her eyes and reached out with her senses. Nothing. The children had left for school a few hours ago, and wouldn't be back for a while. She settled down to wait.

###

**Laura **

Ana seemed to be in a pretty bad mood when I woke up. To my surprise, General Franks had appeared in the night and woken her up. He plopped contentedly onto my lap.

"How'd you find me?" I asked him.

"Easy." He seemed to laugh. "I will always be able to find you, kitten."

"Don't call me that." I muttered.

"Patience, kitten." He yawned.

"You should try it sometime." I said. "I bet you just wanted food."

"Admittedly yes but I really came to protect you." He yawned, rubbing his head against my shirt. "We have a long and dangerous journey ahead of us." His eyes brightened. "You know, there's a scientific study that cats are more ferocious after they eat hot dogs."

"You want a hot dog?"

"Yes, with relish and mustard." He rolled over.

"I'm not your slave, cat." I said, rolling my eyes. "Do it yourself!"

"It's not my fault I was born without opposable thumbs…" General Franks whined.

"Nor is it mine." I grumbled.

"Be _zen_, kitten." He started kneading my leg. "And I want a hot dog! Or a chicken and apple sausage…"

"You are the weirdest cat I've ever met." I grunted, getting up.

"And make the mustard spicy! And it has to be golden rod yellow, not regular colored!"

I rolled my eyes.

He sighed. "It is _so _difficult to train humans…"


	22. Overlord

"Hello."

Blu let her body react for her. She slammed her elbows backward, then whipped around and threw whoever had put their hand on her shoulder over it.

The man landed calmly on his feet.

"Hello." Blu said. Even though she had just assaulted her boss her face showed no emotion.

"I need you to take care of this right now." Overlord said.  
"Now?" Blu said with a frown.

"Yes." Overlord said. "There has been a development in Jessica Finch's situation that we did not expect so soon."

"She is beginning to realize who she is?" Blu asked.

"She is having flashbacks of her past."

"And this information comes…." Blu raised an eyebrow.

"From the source we discussed." Overlord said.

"I can't believe someone like that would betray their friends so easily." Blu muttered.

"She is in a delicate situation, remember?" Overlord said. "It is especially difficult for one her age."

"Yes, I suppose." Blu shrugged. "So I am to go to the school?"

"Yes." Overlord said. "Capture the boy and kill anyone who gets in your way."

"Right." Blu nodded. She frowned. "Have I… have I met that Otto man before?"

Overlord hesitated. "No." he said.

"Ah." Blu frowned. "It is only that I get the most peculiar feeling while I am around him, almost as if my heart was stopping."

Overlord frowned. "You may need retraining, Operative Blu. Emotions are for the weak."

"I understand." Blu said.

"This operation may be difficult for you." Overlord said. "I expect you to handle it anyways."

"Of course I will." Blu looked slightly affronted.

"There is one other thing. After Xander Malpense is captured, I wish for you to begin training Maximillian privately."

"Train… him?" Blu felt suddenly dizzy.

_She was sitting next to Laura and Shelby watching Raven and Wing fight back and forth with a pair of wooden katanas…_

"Are you alright?" Overlord said. "You nearly collapsed."

"Yes." Blu said. "I keep having these annoying visions. I definitely need retraining."

"Report to me later and we will begin."

"Of course." Blu turned around. But now there was a little voice inside her head, screaming at her to stop, to think, to fight-

She shook it off. This was getting ridiculous.

Next thing you knew, she'd be falling in love.


	23. Ben

Ben Sanderson was in a bad mood.

He had a reason for this. Lucy Presscott was standing over him, _glowering_ at him.

"What did I do?" Ben grumbled.

"Why are you playing solitaire when you are supposed to be working?" Lucy growled.

Ben quickly closed the tab. "It was during break…"

"Nigel!" Lucy turned to the bald man who stood beside her. "Make a note- abolish Sanderson's break."

"What have I done?" Ben spluttered as Nigel scribbled. "And why do you call him Nigel and me Sanderson?"

"Because _I_," Lucy scrutinized him. "am your _boss._"

"You're also his boss." Benn pointed out.

"Nigel," Lucy growled. "is my Personal Assistant."

"And at night?" Ben said, smirking.

"He's my Personal Assistant." Lucy snarled, flushing a little. "Look, have you managed to find Dr. Nero or not?!"

"I have found him." Ben said, sighing. "He's headed towards here."

"ETA?" Lucy said, starting to pace. Nigel followed her like a dog.

"About two hours."

"Good." Lucy said. "We'll have a council meeting via the holograms then. Capice?"

"Capice." Ben mumbled.

"And I don't want Sesame Street breaking in like it did last time." Lucy growled. "Have you fixed the transmitter?"

"'Course." Ben said. _Actually, it never was broken, I just did that to irritate you._

"Good!" Lucy snapped. "Now go back to work! And no solitaire this time!"

"Yes… _sir_." Ben said.

Lucy spun around slowly, glaring at him. _"What _was that?"

"Nothing." Ben said, looking down at the computer.

"That's what I thought." Lucy said, turning and stomping off out of the room.

Ben sighed. He missed Vanessa so much, even though she'd been gone for so long… He wished they'd had a chance to be more than friends, but she'd always been too busy chasing after Otto… even though it was beyond obvious that he was going to be with Laura. But Laura didn't seem happy lately. Which probably had something to do with Otto.

"Hello?"

He looked up. It was Franz.

"Hi, Franz." Ben said.

"I am being told there is a new snack bar here." Franz frowned. "I am thinking this is not true."

"Yeah…" Ben muttered.

"Bother." Franz frowned. "Are you playing solitaire?"


	24. Curious

**Ana**

I sat on the couch, waiting for Peter to pick up. Laura had just left. I hoped she be okay, on her own with G.L.O.V.E. after her.

The phone rang… and rang… and rang….

I supposed he had reasons to not answer, after I'd been so rude to him. But he did anyways.

"Hello, this is Zeus's Pizza. Would you like ocelot with that?"

I sighed. "Zoe, can you give the phone to Peter?"

"Why should I?"

"BECAUSE I SAID SO!"

"You're mean." Zoe whined. I heard faintly "Zoe, who are you talking to?"

"Ana!"

"Give it to me!"

A moment later, Peter came over the line. "Yeah?"

"I know I was really rude, but can you please, please, please come with me?" I begged.

Peter sighed. "Okay, fine. See you in ten minutes."

"'Kay." I went over to my computer, not sure what I was doing. Peter said he was going to try to figure out about our past. I wanted to know as well, so I might as well help. I pulled up G.L.O.V.E. records and searched Ana Fabyan.

Nothing… well, nothing interesting, anyway. I sighed, trying to think back to my dream. What had that man called me? It had started with an F…

Furan! That was it! I typed it in and pressed enter.

Tons of stuff. Weird. My family must have been busy. I had a strange feeling though, like I was doing something I shouldn't. I pushed that thought aside. If the files hadn't been deleted, it must mean that they were okay to read… right?

What I should have realized was that someone had screwed up, or been too lazy, (or too busy playing solitaire, hint, hint.) to delete them. Unfortunately, I had no clue until it was too late.

I had no idea what I was doing, or about the mess what I was doing was going to create. I was just curious, okay? We all get like that once in a while.

Anyway, having no clue that I was destroying my whole life, I opened the first file.


	25. Peter

I stood up, needing to get away from the screen that was filled with things, horrible things that these people, Anastasia and Pietor Furan had done.

_It doesn't mean anything._ I tried to tell myself. _It might not have anything to do with you…. you probably just heard someone say the name and you had a dream about it. _

But what about when Peter and called me Anastasia?

And how had I known that Anastasia Furan had killed her mother?

And why did they have a sister named Zoe?

But one thing made me feel a little better- the timing was off. I couldn't actually _be_ her. She'd been born in like the 1960s or something.

My own words echoed back at me.

_Do you ever feel like you've missed something? Like you were asleep for a few decades and the next thing you know we've got cell phones and iPods and laptops and all that stuff?_

But you couldn't make someone younger. I hadn't paid much attention in school, but I was pretty sure that was a constant, never changing fact.

"ARRRG!" I threw a pillow at the ceiling. Could one of them be… our parent? That would make sense, mostly. Yeah, and Otto and the others had just wanted to hide the awfulness of our family from us…. I stared down at my hands, half expecting them to be covered with blood. I still had the feeling that this was directly related to me-

"Hey." Peter came into the room. "You feeling okay? You look kind of… gray."

"I'm not a zombie, Peter." Hmmm, zombies. Hadn't considered that possibility.

"Well, come on then." He grabbed my arm and pulled me up. "When did you find out you were pregnant?"

"I dunno, a week ago?"

"Hmmm…"

"Peter, can zombies age backwards?"

"No, why?"

"Um…." I shrugged.

"Ana, have you been watching horror movies again? Because you need to make sure you get a lot of sleep. And not eat so much junk food-"

"Peter, did you do _research _on this?" I asked.

"Yes. Which got me some strange looks from Zoe." Peter shrugged. "I found out a lot, actually. Did you know-"

Honestly. If Anastasia had a brother like Peter, I can sort of understand why she went psycho and killed all those people.

I'm just saying!


	26. Alan

Jessa woke up and yawned. She was in what looked like a cross between a tent and the forts she and her brother Ron had built when they were kids. Alan looked down at her.

"Hi. You passed out." He said. "It's morning now, by the way. You missed breakfast, but Elia said she would save you some…" He frowned. "Which pretty much guarantees that you aren't going to be getting any."

"Lovely." Jessa rubbed her head.

"Here." Alan tossed her a black jacket like the one he wore. "You're one of us now."

Jessa pulled it on.

"We have to be down at the pit by lunch." Alan said. "Which leaves us with about three hours to kill. Anything you wanna do?"

"Not really." Jessa said. "So… where is breakfast?"  
"You go and get it from the common." Alan shrugged. "I don't think you got any ration tickets yet, so you can share with me and Elia."

"O-kay." Jessa had understood about three words of that, but she understood that everything was okay. She also knew she needed food. Now. "Show me the way."

"I don't know if they'll be anything left…" Alan said doubtfully.

"Well, if there is I'm eating it." Jessa said. "Now come on."

###

**Laura**

I sat down on the couch of the tiny apartment Ana had sent me to and yawned. I was exhausted from the ride here, and lonely too. I hadn't been by myself for a while. There had always been Otto, or one of our kids with me… or Shelby. But now I was on my own… and it sounded like it was going to have to stay like that for a long time. That didn't sound fun.

Well, not completely on my own. I reached down and ran my hand over my stomach. And Ana had said that she was trying to find someone to stay with me-

CRASH!

I looked up and saw a bedraggled figure tumble into the room, trip over a chair and go flying.

"Geez, you okay?" I said, pulling Ben Sanderson to his feet. "And what are you doing here?"

"Oh, Ana sent me here to… well, her exact words were to pretend to be your boyfriend." Ben shrugged.

"Lovely." I sighed. _Ana Fabyan, are you _trying _to drive me crazy?_ "Well, don't get too carried away, 'kay?"

"'Course not. Say, could you give me a hand? I think I'm stuck."


	27. Abduction

**Ana**

When I was like fifteen or something, I fell during the grappler obstacle course and broke my wrist. I can still remember when I went into the hospital wing to get it set. I almost fainted. I'd never been in there before and it was like my head was trying to explode. I don't know what got to me, but I felt like I was going to faint. Epecially when someone tried to give me an injection for the pain. That's when I started hyperventilating. Which was very embarrassing, but it wasn't like I could do anything about it.

Weirdly, Peter who's the weakest of the three of us, wasn't affected at all. And Zoe, who is usually fine with anything bar torture and/or loss of junk food, couldn't even come in the room.

Thankfully, it had gotten better over time. So when I went into the doctor's office, I expected to just feel a small twinge and a little bit uncomfortable. Instead, I staggered into Peter, nearly passing out.

_I was lying on a metal table, my body aching, trying not to sob. I could sort of see the red haired man from before in the corner of my vision. He was holding a scalpel. I tried to look away, but couldn't tear my eyes off him as he dug it into the side of my neck…_

"Ana!" Peter looked annoyed. "Geez, can you walk four feet without collapsing on me?"

"Sorry." I stood up. "Just… dizzy."

"Have you had enough water today?"

"What? I-"

"Because you have to make sure to stay hydrated. Did I tell you that earlier? I thought I did but you should go and drink some now… how much sleep did you get last night?"

"Enough, and if you don't shut up soon I'm going to fall asleep." I snapped.

"Okay, okay, geez." He walked away from me and up towards the receptionist.

###

Blu walked into the low brick building. She darted a glance one way, then the other, then shattered the glass on the box next to her and yanked down the lever.

The loud alarm filled the building, and she jumped. _I've done this before, haven't I? Once…_

She walked over to the part of the school where the sixth graders would be. As the class filed past, she scanned then for the boy she was looking for. He was at the very back. All the easier. She snuck up behind him, shoved her hand over his mouth and knocked him out.

It was ten minutes before anyone noticed that he was missing at all.


	28. Nero

**Jinx**

"Wake up." My grandfather nudged me awake. "We're here."

I was lying at Lucy Presscott's feet in a huge room filled made of black marble. Slowly, I stood up. "Where are we?"

"This is my school." He said.

Lucy frowned. "Dr. Nero, we really ought to be talking to the council now."

"I know!" He glared at her, then sighed. "Find a place to stick Jinx, will you, Nigel? I've got to go, apparently."

A place to stick me? What was I, some kind of toy?

A bald guy about Lucy's age put his hand on my shoulder. "Here, I'll take you to… no… or maybe the… no, that won't do at all." He rubbed his head. "Or how about the… oh, bother, why can't they meet on Thursdays? Why today?"

I felt like I had just walked into a secret clubhouse and he was trying to find a place that wouldn't result in me seeing the secret goings-on inside. I sighed. "Look, if you get me some food and something to write with I can just stay here."

"Oh." He smiled nervously. "Well, then. What would you like to eat?"

"Pancakes." I said. "With bacon. And fried eggs."

"Okay then." He said, turning and walking away. I grinned. I should have made my mom take me to my grandad's school before this.

###

I woke up in a big bed that was so fluffy it felt like I was drowning in it. I got to my feet.

"Stay where you are." A woman was sitting at the edge of the bed with some kind of tablet computer in one hand. Her eyes were cold, and I decided not to try and cross her. I sat down next to her and glanced down at the screen. She was reading something, but the pages were flicking by so fast I couldn't make heads or tails of it. She saw me looking and frowned. "Xander, please do not do that. You do not want to annoy me."  
_How does she know my name_? She reminded me of Ana a little. Something about her expression.

"Why am I here?" I asked.

She leaned over her reading again. "I do not know. I was only told to collect you in a timely manner." She sighed. "So here we are."

"Any idea how you get something to eat in this place?" I asked, leaning in towards her again.

The next thing I knew, I was pinned to the wall by two tiny knives sticking into the fabric of my shirt above my shoulder.

"I _said_, don't annoy me." The woman said crossly. "Overlord will be here shortly. Just stay put and I will not hurt you, understand?"

I nodded. _What had I gotten myself into?_


	29. Affair

**Ana**

I yawned as I lay on the couch, rubbing my forehead, which felt like it was going to explode. Stupid doctor's office. And stupid Peter and his stupid-

I stood up as I heard a knock on my door. "Yeah?"

It was Otto, with Iris and Bryony close behind. I smiled.

"Ana." Otto grabbed my arm and dragged me into my room, shutting the door behind us. He started kissing me, but I pushed him off.

"What's going on, Otto?" I asked.

"Laura's gone, Xander's kidnapped." He ran a hand through my hair. "I just need somewhere to crash for a couple of hours, okay?"

"Okay." I felt nervous. I hadn't told Otto anything about the baby yet. Or followed Peter's instructions and broken up with him. Which was something I _really_ didn't want to do.

"Everything okay?" He rubbed my back.

No. "Yeah." I said. "I'm just feeling uncomfortable about, you know, doing this behind Laura's back."

Otto smirked. "Yeah, well. She's gone now. Besides, she started it."

I frowned. "_She_ had an affair?"

"Have you ever noticed that Bryony doesn't really look like me?" Otto said.

"She has blue eyes, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, but they're more like yours."

"I'm a girl."

Otto smiled like he was about to drop a bomb on me. "Or like your brother's."

"P-PETER?!"  
"You heard me." Otto said. He leaned back on the bed. "It was only for less than a month. But it still happened."

"Your family is messed up."

"You don't know the half of it. She doesn't know that I know." Otto put his hands on my shoulders. "Look, can we stay here for a while?"

"Sure." I said. I collapsed on top of him.

"Ooof! Geez, Ana!"

"Sorry." I buried my face in his shoulder. "Um, Otto… there's something you need to know."

"Why?" He kissed the top of my head. "Are you in trouble, Ana?"

"Sort of." I said. "See, I'm going to-"

Iris banged open the door, one hand covering her eyes (which was sort of cute). "Hello? Can you guys tear yourselves away from each other for five seconds and explain what the heck is going on?"

Otto sighed. "Okay, coming." He looked down at me. "What is it, Ana?"

But I'd lost my nerve. "Oh, nothing important." I said, shrugging. "Come on."


	30. Retraining

Blu took me into another room a few minutes after that. She sat me down in a chair, strapped my arms and legs to it and jammed something into my arm.

"Ow!" I snapped. "What's that?"

"It's for just in case." Blu said calmly. She stepped back as the door opened again and… someone who looked like my dad came in. Only his expression was colder and his eyes were red instead of blue.

"Are you Overlord?" I asked.

"Yes." He walked around me for a moment like I was some animal in the zoo. "Notice anything out of the ordinary, Blu?"

"He seems to react fairly well under pressure." Blu said stiffly. "He asked for food. He could not, however, understand the book I was reading when I played it at the pace you told me to."

"Could you understand it?"

"Not very well."

"Hello, can you please tell me what's going on?!" I spluttered.

"You are going to live here from now on." Overlord said. "And you will do exactly as I say, unless you want trouble."

"I wouldn't say that." Blu said. If it hadn't been for her expression, I would have thought she was being sarcastic. "His family _lives_ for trouble."

###

After she had relocated Xander to a cell, Blu returned and sat down in the chair, strapping herself in. She closed her eyes as Overlord placed his hand on her forehead.

After a moment, he said. "You broke the rules."

"I know." Blu said.

"Why? You know romantic involvement with a victim is not tolerated."

"It will not happen again."

"I trust you, but I need to make sure." Overlord said. Blu closed her eyes and braced herself as red lightning attacked her body. Her only reaction was to grit her teeth.

"Now let's continue with the retraining." Overlord said coldly.

Blu opened her eyes. Retraining meant a cold dark cell, and needles and blades and pain and new scars.

Life could be worse.


	31. Instructions

Max woke up. He yawned, his arm smacking into something. He looked down and saw Avery lying next to him. And Scott. And Elia, Alan, Holly and the new girl, Jessa.

What was going on? He looked around. He wasn't sure where he was until he looked out one of the windows. Some kind of plane or helicopter. What was going on?

Avery stirred. "What the hell? Can't a person eat lunch without being knocked out and dragged god-knows-where- Oh, hi Max." She flushed.

"Hi." Max said. "Where do you reckon we're going?"

"I have absolutely no clue." The others, hearing them, were beginning to wake around them. "Listen, Max… when we're back… we have to talk."

"Okay." Max said. "Let's talk."

"No, alone." Avery said, grabbing his arm.

"Okay…" Max shrugged. _Whatever. _

"Hey, look!" Elia moved to the front of the compartment and pressed her hand to a screen in the front of the space. The screen immediately started to glow red. Elia jerked backwards, opening her mouth.

"Let me guess." Alan said. "You didn't do it."

"Shush!" Holly snapped. "It's talking!"

They all fell silent. A voice did seem to be coming from the screen.

"Miss Hiduka, you said I was creating an army." It said.

"Did I say that?" Elia wondered, rubbing her head.

"Yeah. Now shush!" Scott poked her in the arm.

"You were wrong." Said the voice. "My army has already been created by another. Your task is to bring it to me."

"Er… what?" Jessa asked.

"You will find specific instructions for each of you located in the lockers under this screen. Good luck, and if you fail you will all be executed. And make sure you don't stray from your instructions for your own selfish purposes. One of you is a spy and will inform me of this. The punishment for such actions will be severe. Now hurry." The screen faded to black.

Max glanced over at Avery and saw she was rubbing a red stone that hung around her neck. Where had she gotten that? He pushed the thought of it out of his head for now.

Elia had taken the liberty of opening the compartment.

"This one says 'Leader.'" She said. "Who's the leader?"

"I am." Max said, grabbing it from her.

"You sure about that?" Elia snatched it back.

"Yes." Max glared at her. "Now let _go_. Let's get this over and done with before something goes horribly terribly wrong."

Jessa gulped.

"Oh, don't worry." Holly said. "That generally happens later."


	32. Dimitri and Tolya

I was sitting down to eat my pancakes when I heard two voices. I stood up and looked around. Climbing out of the shadows were two boys. They looked identical, with sandy brown hair and green eyes.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Dude." The one on the left said. "You have pink hair."

"Dude." I said, matching his tone. "_I know_."

"Oh." The one on the right shrugged. "Hi. What's your name?"

"Jinx."

"Jinx, huh? Do you break mirrors often? Walk under ladders?" Left said.

"No." I said, confused.

"Ah." Right said. "Well, I'm Tolya and that's Dimitri."

"And we're named that because our parents are Russian." Said Dimitri.

"Were." Tolya pointed out. "They're dead."  
"Ah." Dimitri held out his hand, which was covered in spray paint. I shook his, then rubbed my hand on my jeans.

"So what are you guys doing here?"

"Oh, we live here." Tolya said.

"We were bad boys." Dimitri said with a grin.

"Ah." I said. "So… what's with the spray paint?"

"Well, we were just showing our dear headmaster how much we love him." Dimitri said. He seemed to be a little more talkative then his brother.

"Right." I said. I looked at the marble wall behind them and saw in silver lettering something rude about my grandfather and some girl named Natalya.

"He gave us detention." Dimitri explained. "For something we didn't even do!"

"Er… actually we _did _do it." Tolya said.

"Oh." Dimitri shrugged. "Well, I'm sure he deserved it anyway. So, Jinx. Are you a bad girl too?"

"Not that I know of." I shrugged. "But people tend to forget to tell me things…"

"Well, welcome to the Higher Institute of Villainous Education." Tolya said.

I frowned.

"And no," Dimitri added. "There is no lower institute."

I frowned some more.

"I don't get it either." Dimitri said, patting me on the shoulder.


	33. Vanessa

**Natalya**

I knew the instant I saw that girl. I will never ever forget her face.

I used to like the name Raven. Despite who gave it to me. It made me seem stronger. But then she stole it and ruined it. Now I can't stand it any longer.

She ruined everything- killed my boyfriend, gave up my daughter, stole my friends. And my job. I got it back, kind of, but nothing is ever going to be the way it was before.

I never saw it coming when she betrayed me. She might have not been my friend… Okay, so we were bitter adversaries. Like Laura and Vanessa. But we weren't fighting over a boy, we both just wanted to rule the Alpha Stream. But even though we hated each other, we always played fair.

Throwing someone off a cliff into a shark infested ocean and then stealing their identity is not 'playing fair'.

I was sitting in the control room, watching the screens that showed all over H.I.V.E. (I was bored. I do weird things when I'm bored.) On one of them, I saw a slight shimmer out of the corner of my eye.

They really need to fix that on the suits. It's such a huge give away.

As I studied the screens, I noticed two more of them.

"Intruders." I said. "Take care of those two." I pointed out the second and third patched. "I'll get the last ones."

I started out, breaking into a run. Ever since Vanessa's death, something odd had happened. My body hadn't aged at all. Even though I was forty three by now, I still had the body of a thirty year old. Which was not helping my relationship with Dr. Nero. At all. I was never good with crushes in the first place, but when they're involving your thirty year older boss/uncle… this is not good.

As I reached the shimmer, I released one of those... thingies that deactivates suits. The intruders came into view. There were three of them- two girls and a boy.

I moved in to attack them. I kicked out at the first girl. She turned around as it caught her in the side, making no move to deflect it. _Idiot_.

Then I saw her face.

And I knew.

It was _her_.

_How many times to I have to kill you? _


	34. Avery

Jessa stared at the woman in shock. Everything had been going okay- she hadn't tripped or done anything embarrassing. Not that anyone would have noticed, because they were wearing suits that made them invisible, which was pretty cool. She actually thought she'd heard of that before… in a spy movie, maybe?

Then the woman had appeared.

"How many times do I have to kill you?"

"I dunno." Jessa stepped back. "I'd prefer not to die at all…"

"Jessa, stay back." Max pushed her behind him. Then he attacked the woman. Jessa knew nothing about fighting but she could see that these two were both really, really good. But the woman was stronger and she flipped Max over her shoulder and advanced on Avery and Jessa.

Avery was fast. She darted out of the woman's way, grabbed something from her belt- some kind of bow, notched an arrow and fired it at the woman. The woman grabbed it out of the air, then hurled it down the corridor like it had burned her. A moment later, it exploded. The shockwave knocked Avery back, the weapon falling from her hand. Not knowing what she was doing, Jessa picked it up. Her body seemed to act for her, and she was firing- once, twice, three times, and the woman was pinned to the wall.

She glared up at her. "Can't you leave me alone for once, Vanessa freakin' Winters?"

"I'm sorry." Jessa tilted her head slightly. "But my name is Jessica Finch."

"Oh, don't play innocent with me, _Furan_." She hissed scathingly.

"Leave her alone, Jessa." Avery sat up. "We have to activate that thingy, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." Jessa said. "Let's rock, then."

###

**Ana**

Otto and I were curled up on the couch, talking. Which normally I would have been happy doing, but Bryony was perched on Otto's lap braiding my hair.

I was not looking forward to having kids. You can't do anything fun when they're around.

Plus, Iris kept shooting me dirty looks from the chair she was reading in. God. She was like a little red-headed Zoe…

I heard a knock on the door. I stood up to go answer it. As my hand touched the doorknob, it swung open on it's own.

Outside was a man with short red hair…

All of the sudden, my head started to spin. I just managed to sit down before I passed out.


	35. Horribly, terribly wrong

"Ana?" Otto shook my shoulder. I slowly opened my eyes. "What the heck?" He hugged me tightly. "You scared me, Ana. Don't do it again."

"I'm sorry. I… I don't know what happened." I rubbed my head. "Who was the guy at the door?"

"The guy at the door?" Otto asked. "There wasn't anyone there."

"Really?" I frowned. "I could have sworn… well, whatever. It's fine now."

"Yeah." Otto stood up. "Listen, I have to get to work."

"Oh." I said. "Right."

"So… can you look after Iris and Bryony?" Otto said. "After school, I mean."

"Um, sure." I said.

Iris gave me a look. I sighed. This was going to be a fun afternoon…

###

"Just because she saw us doesn't mean the jig is up." Max said. "We can still do our part, and the others are probably fine."

"Er, shouldn't you check on that?" Jessa asked. "If they found us, who's to say that they didn't find the others?"

"Good point." Max pulled out his phone. There was no answer from any of the others.

"That doesn't sound good." Avery muttered.

"Is this the part where things go horribly, terribly wrong?" Jessa asked.

"Probably." Max shrugged. "Well, we can still try and-"

"Who's there?" called a voice from down the hall.

Max swore and tugged at the door behind him. Locked. "Avery?" He hissed.

Avery pulled something from her pocket. A few seconds later, the door was open. They all ducked inside.

"What are you doing?" asked the girl who was standing in the room. She looked like she was a few years younger, and her hair was pink. It didn't look like it was dyed either. For a moment, Max thought he saw two other kids behind her, but when he looked around, they were gone.

"Hiding." Max said. "Who are you?"

"Jinx." She said. She narrowed her eyes. "You don't look like you go here-"

Max knocked her out just as the alarm began to sound.


	36. Babystting

**Ana**

The afternoon did not start well.

Bryony ran up to me and hugged me. Which normally I would have been okay with, only she was covered in dirt. Which meant that I was now covered in dirt.

And because I was tired and stressed about Otto I screamed "THAT IS DESIGNER!" and shoved her away.

Iris eyed me. "Seriously?"

"I paid two hundred dollars for this sweater." I said, trying frantically to get the dirt off.

"Seems like a waste to me." Iris shrugged. "Can you make us a snack, or something?"

"There's cookies and chips in the pantry." I said. Peter had not yet done as he'd threatened to and clean out my kitchen of all 'crap'(read: things I like eating), so it was still well stocked, thank God. But that didn't change the fact that he'd SNAPPED MY STARBUCKS CARD IN HALF. (No, I'm not over that yet. I am not over that TO THIS DAY.)

"Wow." Iris said. "You suck at parenting."

"You are so grateful." I said sarcastically.

"Yes, well." Iris said. "I prefer structure in my life to mindless chaos. Now help me with my math."

I don't know what was wrong with me, but I could not make heads or tails of Iris's homework. It's not like she needed help or anything. She just wanted to embarrass me.

"Did you go to school at all?" Iris said, sighing.

"No. Most of the time I had a 'conflict of interest'."

"Which was…"

"I wasn't interested." I shrugged. "I had better things to do."

"Like what?"

For a moment, images flashed through my brain. Me fighting kids, all around Iris's age.

"I don't remember." I shrugged. "I guess I was just bored."

"I'm bored too." Iris said. "Because it's too easy. But my parents won't let me skip a grade. They say I have a hard enough time socially-"

"WHEEE!" Bryony yelled into my ear. I jumped about four feet straight up.

"I made a fairy house!" Bryony pointed to my window box. She'd dug up all my plants, stripped them of all their leaves and flowers, and built them into sort of a house.

I sighed.

"What?" Iris said snidely. "Designer flowers?"


	37. Training

**Natalya**

I was swimming laps, letting the water wash away all of the failures of today. Okay, so I was slicing through the water like I was trying to kill it. It made me feel better.

I have no idea how long I'd swam before I heard someone call my name. I popped out of the water and saw Nero staring down at me.

"Hi." I said. I was tempted to roll my eyes. I had a feeling there was some other reason that he'd come to meet me here. Unfortunately for him, my swimsuit wasn't that revealing.

"Hello." He said.

"So… what's up?" I asked.

"You've been hiding all morning." He said. "I think you're the one who needs to answer that question."

"The girl." I pulled off my goggles and dunked them in the water. "The red head… she reminds me of Vanessa Furan."

"Winters."

"Winters." Strange, how that little act of defiance was all she could manage. And it was also strange how it annoyed Furan so much.

"She's dead, Natalya." Nero sighed. "You don't have to worry about her."

"I do worry." I pulled myself out. "I worry a lot."

"Don't worry. There are people to look after you."

"Yeah, well, I'd prefer to do it myself." I growled.

"Well, aren't you nice." Nero sighed. "Why don't you go get changed, and I want you to question them."

"Okay." I shrugged. That, at least, would be easy.

###

Blu stared into the boy's eyes. He looked an awful lot like his father. That unnerved her for some reason.

"Are you angry at me?" she said.

"Um… not really." Xander said. "But I am really hungry… is there any food in this place?"

"Yes, but not for you until you listen to me." Blu crossed her arm. "Are you mad at anyone right now?"

"Ana, I guess." Xander shrugged. "But what does that have to do with anything?"  
"Pretend I'm Ana."

"I can't. You're not."

Blu hit him across the face.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"_Now_ are you mad at me?"

"Yes, a little." Xander shrugged. "But what does it matter?"

"Attack me." Blu said, crossing his arms.

"You'll just beat me up."  
"I said _attack_ _me_." Blu snarled.

"'Kay, 'kay, fine." Xander walked towards Blu and punched her in the arm.

Blu sighed. "No. Attack me like you would attack Ana."

"But I wouldn't attack Ana!"

Blu smacked herself in the face. "You're _impossible_." She muttered.

"No, I am not!" Xander took another step forward. But this time, when his foot came down there was a flash of red light and Blu was thrown backwards.

She slowly got to her feet. Xander stepped back nervously, but she was smiling.

"Now that's what I'm talking about."


	38. Bryony

**Ana**

"No." I snapped. "They aren't, but they're pretty and I kind of like them where they were…"

I clapped my hand over my mouth. _Darn it, I'm going to be sick again…_

"You okay, Ana?" Iris said.

I should have figured that that annoying brat was up to something, but I felt so bad I didn't think and said "Just a little… queasy."

"Really." She smirked. "And why?"

"Uh… because I'm not… feeling well?" I stood up and started heading for the bathroom but Iris stood in my way. She poked my in the stomach.

"Are we getting a half-sibling or not?"

"Yes- I mean no- I mean-"

"Oh, forget it." She smirked. "You're such a terribly liar… it's almost pathetic."

Did I mention how much I hate her? And children in general? Well, I do. I had no idea how I was supposed to manage this parenting thing all day every day.

"Ana…" Bryony skipped over and slid her tiny hand in mine. "You can tell us. We won't say a word to Daddy, we promise."

"It's not like he listens, or anything." Iris huffed.

Bryony's face grew serious for a moment as she nodded. "Yeah I guess…"

This sounded kind of familiar. I had the feeling that I'd been in that situation before. It was strange. I could remember my childhood, but it was fuzzy, and I was missing bits and pieces. Like _where_ I grew up. But I had the feeling I wasn't listened to a lot, and not just by my parents.

"Hello? Ana?" Iris waved her hand in my face. "So?"

"So your right." I said. "And _please_ don't tell anyone, okay? I want to keep it a secret for now."

"Boy or girl?" Iris asked.

"I don't know yet." I admitted. "I have to wait, like, a few months."

"I hate waiting." Bryony whined.

"I have no control over this." I snapped.

"I still hate waiting." Bryony whined.

"Okay, that's lovely." I sighed, trying to think of something to distract her with. "Who wants ice cream?!"


	39. Denied

The instant Otto showed up, I practically fell on him, showering him with kisses. Otto grinned at me. "What brought this on?"

"I dunno… I just feel happy!"

"I'm guessing that today went well, then." Otto said, playing with my hair.

"What? No. Today sucked." I yawned. "Maybe I'm so tired, I'm delusional."

"Well, you're cute when you're delusional, so that's all right." Otto took off his shoes and sat down on the couch. "Come here."

I sat down practically on his lap and rubbed my head against his chin. "Otto, there's something I have to tell you-"

He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "What?"

_Not now. _A voice inside my head thought. _Not while he's in _this _mood._

"I love you." I said. He smiled.

_I'm gonna have to spill sooner or later…_

###

Blu yawned as she slid into her gray silky pajamas. She grabbed her phone and started reading again. But she couldn't focus. Otto Malpense was stuck in her head, and as hard as she tried she could not get him out.

"Arg." She rolled over and closed her eyes but all she could see where Otto's, staring back at her. She sighed, and sat up, pulling out her phone again. Then she searched his name. Nothing that she didn't know already. She sighed and started to turn it off again, but then something caught her eye. Just a name, one of his friends.

_Vanessa Montov_.

She tapped the name. A message popped up. _Access denied._ She tried again and got the same message.

_But I have clearance! What is going on?_

She tried searching the name, but got the same result. She turned it off and rubbed her head. Otto was gone, but he had been replaced by this mystery girl, whoever she was. She'd have to talk to Overlord about it later. Although… wouldn't he be the one who would have denied her access to that information? But she just wanted to know _why…_

_And_, she thought,_ by banning me from finding out about this all it's done is made me want to know more…_


	40. Cherry

**Jinx**

My mom showed up that night. She hugged me really tightly while glaring at my grandpa over my head.

"What, Svetlana?" he asked after a few minutes of this.

"Don't you ever go and abduct my daughter again!" my mom snapped. She looked furious.

"I was only trying to keep her safe." My grandpa sighed. I noticed the woman standing next to him for the first time. She was very, very beautiful, with long dark hair and cold blue eyes. I guessed that she was the Natalya the twins had talked about.

"Yeah, well…" My mom let go of me, running her hand through her hair. "_He_ sent some sort of raid here on the very same day Jinx arrived, and I don't think that was by accident."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" I snapped. "And who sent some kind of raid?"

My mom took a deep breath. "Your father."

"My father? He sent those kids?" I frowned. "But you said he was de-"

"Jinx, we can talk about it later." My mom said, cutting me off. "I promise we will… but right now we have to do something else."

"Fine…" I said as I walked off.

###

**Natalya**

"Her hair really _is _pink." I marveled as I watched Overlord's daughter stomp away.

"Yes, trust me, I hear about it all the time." Cherry sighed. "Now what did you want to do?"

"I wanted you two to come with me while we talk to…" Nero sighed. "Max Montov."

"No." I crossed my arms. "I will _not_."

"Natalya, be reasonable." Nero snapped.

"I am being reasonable. I don't think it's fair to make me face what I did over and over again!" I could feel my face getting hot with anger.

"Max has nothing to do with her!"

"He's the son of the woman who raised her!" I objected.

"He was four months old when they were separated, I doubt he remembers her." Nero said confidently.

"All right, all right, I'll come!" I crossed my arms.

"His eyes are blue." Cherry said.

"What?"

"His eyes are blue. Max's, I mean." She frowned. "Does that help?"

"A little, I guess." I sighed. "Well, come on, then."


	41. Memories

I walked into the room followed by Nero and Cherry. One of the walls was glass, looking in on six children.

My heart stopped.

"Natalya?" Nero put his hand on my shoulder. "Something wrong?"

Yes. Something was very wrong. Because I _knew _half of these kids… not from H.I.V.E. or a photo in a file, but from years of training at the Glasshouse. The girl with blond hair and her twin brother… I'd never learned her name but I knew she was one of the best fighters and very ferocious while her brother was timid and shy. The girl leaning against Max… her name started with an A and she had an older brother and a younger sister. Furan was constantly taking her away to his room. All three of them had vanished when she was younger, and I'd never seen them again.

But the other two… the little girl with red hair…. Cherry. And the boy with blond hair and glasses…

My cheeks flushed as I remembered a cold winter sky so many years before, bright streaks of light shooting across it.

Scott Trowell, who'd given me my first kiss and then died in my arms.

"Yes." I sat down hard. "I don't know what he's playing at…"

"You okay?" Cherry said. "Because you just sat down on the floor."

"I know that." I snapped.

"You sure?"

"Positive." I grunted.

"You aren't the only one who sees it." Cherry said. She squeezed my shoulder. "I lived there too, you know."

"Right." I said. I stood up and took another look at Cherry. I'd avoided her the past twelve years. We hadn't really been good friends in the first place, and whatever we'd had was ruined by _her._ I was starting to regret distancing myself from everyone after my daughter died.

"Natalya… do you want to interrogate any of them?" Nero asked me. He was acting like I was some sort of delicate thing that he was afraid to touch. I winced. I guess I didn't seem to be handling this very well….

"Yes, I'd love to torture- _interrogate_, sorry, Max and his girlfriend." I said, giving him my best predatory smile.

"Okay then." Nero said. "Just don't hurt them too severely, especially him. "

"Oh, I'm not interested in hurting him." I smiled. "Have you noticed how… _plump_ his girlfriend seems?"

"What? So you think she's preg-"

"Definitely." I said. "So he'll be pretty desperate to protect her."

"What if he doesn't know?"

"I'm pretty good at telling people shocking things in an annoying manner." I said, pulling my hair back into a pony tail. "Shouldn't be too much trouble…"


	42. Torutu- Interrogation

**Ana**

Otto and I were sitting on the couch. I yawned, and leaned against him.

"I've been thinking about… what's going to happen now." Otto said. "I don't think we should get married, Van- Ana."

"What?" I asked.

"What what?" Otto said.

"You started calling me something." I said. "What was that about?"

"Oh, nothing. It doesn't matter." Otto said. "So what do you think?"

"I don't think so either." I said.

"Good." He smiled and kissed my cheek. "So I'll stay here with you, okay?"

"Okay." I yawned. "I really need to get a job."

"A job?"

"Yeah. If I'm going to help you take care of Bryony and Iris…" I shrugged. "I might as well spend my own money on clothes and makeup." I grinned. "Maybe I'll be a ninja assassin."

Otto's face went white and he jerked back.

"Why?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

"I… please don't." He gripped my arm.

"Why?" I pressed.

"Then you'd be in danger." Otto said.

He was lying. There was something else. I could see it in his eyes.

"You know what she has to do with me, don't you?" I said gently.

"What? No!" Otto snapped. "Furan has nothing to do with you, now get that idea out of your head!"

"How'd you know who I was talking about?" I asked, smirking.

"Okay, Ana… it doesn't matter." Otto stood up abruptly. "It really doesn't."  
"You okay?"

"I need a moment." Otto said, walking away.

I frowned. _What was that all about?_

###

**Natalya**

"So when's it due?" I asked, shutting the door to the simple gray cement room where I was going to interrogate the two.

"When's what?" the girl said. I'd learned that her name was Avery. She was obviously trying to pretend that nothing was going on.

"Your little one." I tapped her side.

Her expression darkened. "I have no idea what you're-"

I whipped out my sword and slashed the chain of the necklace she wore, the blade inches from her neck. "This will go a lot faster if you tell the truth."

The red crystal pendant fell to the floor. Avery dived to catch it.

"Who are you working for?" I asked.

"Overlord." She whimpered.

"Thank you. See. I said it would be easy." I smiled. "Now why did he send you and your friends here?"

"I… I don't know." She inched away from me, grabbing Max's arm.

"The truth." I snapped. I grabbed her arm and carved a long cut down it. Avery made a noise I can only describe as a squeak and shrank away again.

"That is the truth!" Avery yelled.

I pressed my sword to her side, pressing the blade in a little bit. "You know, one of Dr. Nero's students was once very badly injured… but she survived. I've been _itching_ to try it out on another student."

"I don't know what you're talking about… but leave her alone!" Max snapped.

"You want a fight?" I said, putting my hands on my hips. "Because I'd be more then happy to give you one…"

"Sure." Max shifted into a fighting stance. "Let's go."


	43. Dreams

Otto sat down on Ana's bed, trying hard to think. _Why is she asking about that? Does she know?_

_No. If she knew, I'd probably be dead and Ana would be off on a murderous rampage ending with the deaths of everyone who kept her identity from her. _

He took a deep breath. It was nothing, probably just a lucky guess by her.

_But what if it isn't? Then…I really screwed up! I went and had to blurt out her name… _He rubbed his head. _If she didn't know anything before, she must have something figured out by now…_

He pushed the thoughts of Ana and her past out of his head and focused on the other thing. He'd almost called her Vanessa. Why Vanessa? If he was going to mix up Ana's name with anyone… shouldn't it be with Laura's? She was his wife, after all. Vanessa was just a girl he'd been attracted to for a short time, and she had been dead for years and years…

_That's who that woman reminded me of._

The one with the wings, the one who had interrogated him. It had been hard to tell in the dark warehouse, but he was pretty sure that her eyes had been green… the same green as Vanessa's

_Geez, she's all over the place today. _

"Otto?" Ana called. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." Otto said. Ana came in, looking nervous.

"Hey, it's okay." Otto said gently. "It's got nothing to do with you…"

That was true, at least.

###

_She was curled up in some kind of glass tube, her body that of a four year old, but her mind already seemed adult-like. The glass bent the images, but she could make out a girl standing on the other side, her mouth open in a round O. She had short dark hair, bright green eyes and wore a black leather jacket. She reached down and pulled a bag of something out of her boot and started eating from it._

"_Who's that?" Her words were garbled by the pane separating them._

"_It's not important." The woman standing next to her looked bored. She wore an expensive suit and her hair was perfectly styled. _

"_But-" _

_The woman grabbed her shoulder, and the girl squawked. "Ow! Dammit, don't poke me when I've just been stabbed!"_

"_Shot."_

"_I lose track." The girl blew her bangs out of her face. "Now let's go."_

Blu sat up and rubbed her head.

_What on Earth was _that_?_


	44. Pretend

**Natalya**

I laughed. I already knew how this fight was going to end…

Sure enough, five minutes later Max was lying on the ground with a bruise forming on his jaw. I sighed. "Pathetic. Were you even trained at all? When I was your age-"

"I've heard about you." Max said, cutting me off. "The one who killed her own daughter."

My mind slips away and goes somewhere else, somewhere dark and cold where I can be what I really am, frightened and cruel and pathetic. Vanessa is staring up at me and she won't look away, she won't she won't she won't-

I heard myself scream, then the next thing I knew I was lying in a hospital bed. The last thing I could remember was Avery Lennox in a pool of blood.

"Natalya."

Nero's voice was like an anchor, leading me back to the land of the living. To face whatever I'd done.

"Where's Avery?" I got out, sitting up.

"Dead." Nero said. "You tore her open. No one could survive a wound like that." He sighed. "We saved her baby, though."

"Great." I muttered. "Another person who hates me."

"We don't hate you." Nero took my hand in both of his and rubs it.

"Oh, come on, haven't you seen the looks everyone else shoots me when they think I'm not looking?" I scoffed.

"Sh." He pushed my hair off my forehead.

"And you acting like that is no good either, because we all know you don't give a damn about me because I'm not her!" I blurted.

Her. My mother, who Nero loved. But she took his older brother instead…

"Why don't we pretend?"

Pretend. Pretending is good. Pretending that Vanessa is alive, that I never cut her life short, that Mark is alive, that Mark is dead, that Mark never cared about me anyway so who cares about him? Who cares? Not me. But I do care, I do care because he really is dead and it was all her fault…

"Natalya?" He gave me a look like I'm that fragile thing again. And I guess I am fragile from the way I reached today… or was it yesterday. I'd completely lost track of time.

"Yes?" I said. _I'm still here_.

He leaned in and kissed my cheek. "Then let's pretend."


	45. Love

**Laura**

I didn't try but somehow it happened and now I'm in love with Ben Sanderson.

It took five whole months for me to realize this. We were staying in the apartment, but for a while it didn't matter. And then… I don't know why, but whenever I have Otto's baby there comes a time when I can't move without being in so much pain I want to pass out. Whenever this happens, Otto tends to get really grouchy and ignore me almost completely. Then I have to get Xander to help me out, which is really annoying.

But Ben… he was always helping me with things and was really sweet about it. He held me hand when my daughter was born, too. Of course, he may have just been pretending, but I didn't think so. There was something about his eyes…

"Laura?" Ben came into the kitchen holding my daughter, who I'd named Daphne. "Are you hungry?"

"Sort of."

"Want me to make something?"

"Sure." I went over to the computer and started checking my email. There was stuff from Shelby about… well, it was mostly exclamation points so it must have been _something_ exciting… but when Shelby gets excited she can't type, so I had no idea what it was.

Then there was an email from Ana, about Iris and Bryony, who I insisted on regular updates about. At first, I'd been okay with her living with Otto… but as it became more apparent that it was a permanent set-up, just thinking about it made me want to hit something.

"Hello."

I spun around and saw a ginger haired guy sitting across from me on the couch, holding my daughter and stroking her hair. My mouth fell open.

"Who are you?"

General Franks came bounding into the room and jumped on the man.

"Franks!" I yelled. "Heel!" I didn't want him to accidentally hurt Daphne, or miss the man and kill the wall instead.

Ben ducked his head out of the kitchen.

"Laura? Everything okay?"

"I thought I…" I stared at the spot where the man had been. Daphne was back in her crib, staring up at me with her wide green eyes. "Arrg. Never mind."

General Franks jumped up into my lap, growling.

"What is wrong with you, cat?" I grunted, pulling his claws out of my legs.

"Nothing with me." He sniffed. "Are those… tacos?"

"I'll feed you later; now tell me what's wrong." I ordered.

"That man." General Franks started licking his butt. "he's bad."

"Well, that clears _everything _up." I said.


	46. Reveal

**Xander**

Blu was sitting on the edge of my bed when I woke up. I sighed. She was always waking me up at weird times and 'training' me or some other stupid thing.

I sat up and looked at the table next to my bed. Sitting on it was a plate of waffles soaked in syrup. Breakfast. I offered it to Blu. "Want one?"

Blu stared at it like it had teeth. "No." She tossed me a pair of pants, a t-shirt and a jacket. "Get dressed. You've got ten minutes before we leave."

"Where are we going?"

"You don't need to know that." She left the room, pulling the door shut carefully behind her.

I sighed and started pulling on the clothes. Then I opened the door. "Okay, can you tell me what's going on already?" I noticed that she wasn't wearing her usual jumpsuit but a loose white blouse and jeans.

"Just come with me." Blu said. "I promise you will not be harmed. I will explain on the way."

"On the way to what?"

"Our destination."

I sighed. It was hopeless to try to get her to tell you something when she didn't want to. "Okay, okay… I'm coming."

###

**Ana**

I forced myself out of bed and into the bathroom. I rubbed my forehead and collapsed onto the ground. How much longer could I keep this deception up?

"Ana?" Otto called. "Something wrong?"

"What? No!" I said.

"Ana…"

"There is nothing wrong!" Tears pricked at my eyes. "Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing-"

Otto carefully opened the door. He sat down next to me and turned my head, forcing me to look at him. "You've been crying. Tell me what's wrong?"

"I said it's nothing!" I yelled. I stood up, but slipped in a puddle of water and slammed into the ground so hard I heard something crack. I started crying again… not just crying, but wailing like a little kid.

Stupid hormones. Someday, I swear, I will get even…

"Ana?" Otto picked me up and carried me back into our bedroom. "What hurts?"

"Everything!" I wailed.

Otto pulled off my shirt. "Do you think you might have broken a rib-" He stopped abruptly.

I crossed my arms over myself quickly, but the damage was already done.

"You're pregnant, aren't you?" Otto said. His voice was quiet and dangerously calm.

"Yes." I muttered, staring down at my lap.

"Ana…." Otto sighed. "How long have you known this?"

"Since when Laura left." I said.

"And you've kept it a secret from me for five months?!" Otto smirked. "Damn, you're good, Fabyan."

"Thanks, I think…" I muttered.

"Which Is it, a boy or a girl?" he asked gently, sitting down next to me.

"I dunno." I leaned against him. "I didn't really want to know…"

"Then let's go." Otto took my hand. "We need to get you checked out after a fall like that."

"You're right." I said. I started coughing, spitting blood onto the floor. "We should hurry…"


	47. Bryony and the ZombieVampire Squirrels

"I'm taking Ana to the hospital." Otto told Iris and Bryony. "Iris, you're in charge."

"Aw!" Bryony whined. "But she always makes me do her chores."

"Iris, being in charge does not mean that you're supreme dictator of the world."

"I know that."

"It just means that if anything goes wrong, it's your fault." Otto climbed into the car next to me. I wish he'd hurry up- I'm having trouble breathing.

"What if vampire squirrels attack?" Bryony asked.

"Bryony…" Otto sighed. "There is no such thing as vampire squirrels."

"That's their secret." Bryony said conspiratorially. "They sneak up on non-believers and-"

"Okay, Bryony." Otto sighed. "Come on."

###

I had two broken ribs and one of them almost punctured my lung. I have to stay in the hospital for a few days, which is annoying, but there's nothing I can do.

The good news- the baby is healthy and it's a girl.

Otto kissed the top of my head. "Ana, I can't believe this."

"Are you mad at me?" I asked guiltily.

"A little." Otto shrugged. "But I'm also excited."

"But isn't that why you and Laura fell apart? Because she had kids so early?"

"That was beyond our control." Otto said. "This is different. I'm not fourteen years old anymore."

I cupped his face in my hands and kissed him. He put his arms around me.

"I was so scared to tell you…" I whispered. "But I'm glad I did."

"Me too." Otto started sliding into my hospital bed. "I-"

His phone rang.

I frowned. "Three guesses who that is."

Otto pulled it out. "_What_, Iris?" He listened for a few minutes. "_What?"_

"What is it?" I asked.

Otto held up his hand. "Well, tell her no! She can NOT keep baby squirrels in the house! I don't care if it's supposed to keep the zombies away…"

I sighed. If my daughter was anything like Iris and Bryony, I don't think I was going to survive.


	48. A sticky situation

Otto got into the car, ready to head back to his house. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Laura's number.

"I'm sorry. The number you have dialed has been disconnected-"

He sighed. It wasn't like she'd be able to keep her cell phone, what with all of G.L.O.V.E. after her. But he missed her badly. Ana was pretty… but she wasn't Laura. He just wanted to talk to her again… and apologize. But he didn't know if she'd let him… he'd treated her pretty badly-

His phone rang. He picked it up. "Hello."

"Hi."

He wanted to cry. "Laura!"

"Leave me alone, Otto." She sounded upset. "I don't want to talk to you anymore."

She hung up.

###

**Natalya**

I walked back into my room, wrapped in a towel. Nero and I were staying in a hotel for a G.L.O.V.E. thingy… and I felt exposed.

And… Nero was sitting on my bed.

"Done with your shower?"

"Obviously." I said. "Why are you in here?"

"I don't know." Nero came towards me. I took a step back. "Natalya…" He put one hand on my shoulder.

"Can we talk later?" I said. _As in, when I'm fully dressed?_

"No, I…" He trailed off again. He started playing with my hair.

"Is everything okay? You seem troubled." I backed away again. "Hello? Max?"

There was something in his eyes that scared me. And I felt something too… I clenched my hands into fists to keep myself from caressing his face.

Nero grabbed me and pulled me into him. Unwillingly, I threw my arms around his neck. The towel fell to the floor. I looked up at him.

_Darn it, Natalya, what have you gotten yourself into…_

He kissed me.

It felt sort of nice, actually. I was so surprised I didn't even try to jerk away. Half of me wanted to stay here forever…

Unfortunately, the other half of me was stronger and I flipped him over my shoulder.


	49. Beaten

"Geez, Natalya." Nero rubbed his head. "Ow. What was that for?"

"Um, you tried to kiss me?" I said, raising my eyebrows in mock surprise.

"Not just tried." He laughed. "I'd say I succeeded pretty well…"

"So what does this mean?" I said. I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to cover myself up at least a little.

"It means I love you." Nero said.

"Shush." I said.

"What? Look, I'm sorry if I-"

"No, shush, I hear something." I stood up and slowly walked towards the door, grabbing a bathrobe out of the closet and pulling it around me. I went over just as the door swung open, smacking me in the face and knocking me over.

"Ack!" I yelled. "By dose!" But it was clear that we had other problems.

The woman who entered the room had a gun and she pointed it at Nero. She opened her mouth to speak but she hadn't seen me behind her and I jumped at her. I knocked her to the ground but she kicked me off. I flew backward and slammed into the wall hard.

_She shouldn't be that strong. Even I am not that strong._

The woman jumped into the air. I gasped as I saw wings unfurl from beneath her blouse, sending white shreds of soft fabric floating into my face. Then I saw what she was about to do and I tried to move back but it was too late. Her feet slammed into my abdomen so hard I heard an awful crunching noise. I gasped, but I couldn't move. The pain was too much.

"Natalya!" Nero yelled. The woman picked me up like I weighed no more than a feather and slammed me into the wall. She pointed the gun at me and fired into my chest twice. I collapsed, struggling for air.

_Dammit, I am not going to be beaten by some fallen angel wanna-be!_

Unfortunately, I was beaten. My front was covered in blood and my heart was slowing. Everything was getting foggy and I couldn't think. I couldn't remember who I was.

_Max. Max needs my help._

Somehow, that got through. I forced myself to stand up, using the wall as support. I closed my eyes, trying not to throw up, or faint, or both. Slowly I inched myself forward until I was just behind the mystery winged girl.

I had just enough strength left to jam my sword into her back and collapse to the ground.


	50. Healed

I woke up a few seconds later, in Nero's arms.

"Thanks." He whispered. His lips were a few inches from my face, which made me uncomfortable to say the least.

"For what?" I said groggily. I became slowly aware of two things- one, I was _not _dead, two, the woman was lying on the carpet, groaning. Strangely, there was no blood. If I've learned anything, then it's that people tend to bleed when they get stabbed. Her body convulsed, and I tore myself away from her. I'd mixed Nero's answer, but that didn't matter.

"You're hurt." Nero said. And before I could protest, he pulled open my bathrobe.

Ack.

His fingers probed my chest. "There's… nothing there."

I jerked away from him. "Please _stop_ doing that."

"Sorry."

I touched my chest. He was right. The bullet wounds were gone. And the damage I'd felt inside me when the woman had jumped on me… that was gone too.

"Is she dead?" I asked, trying to distract myself from the mysterious healing that had occurred.

"Not yet." Nero said. "And I'm pretty sure she'll wake up soon… so while we're still alone…" He grabbed my face and started kissing me again, this time harder and fiercer and… hungrier.

"I said NO!" I jerked back. The movement left me reeling. Clearly I was still weak from my injuries. "We're related-"

"Not closely."

"I'm your niece."

"Bartholomew was only my half-brother-"

"Still your niece."

He sighed. "I'd pay you."

"Still wouldn't."

"Natalya…" He sighed. "Don't you want a second chance?"

"At what?"

"Love. A family. Having kids."

"You want me to have kids?" I laughed bitterly. "I think I've proved I can't handle it."

"Which is why you need a second chance." He started stroking my hair.

"No, no, no and _can I say no_?" I snarled. I stood up.

"You could get her back."

"Who?"

"Vanessa."

I was so startled- and _angry_- I forgot to speak English. "Are you crazy? You are crazy. You can't get someone back from the dead! Crazy, crazy- love makes people crazy, I have proof of this, it makes them jump in front of psychotic Furans and get killed for you-" I broke off, realizing that a) I was speaking Russian, b) I was totally off-subject.

Nero sighed. "There is a way."

"What?"

"Anastasia collected her DNA." Nero said. "We could have a clone."

I looked over at our attacker's face for the first time and my heart started pounding. "I think someone already has."


	51. Daphne

**Laura**

I slid my phone back into my drawer, breathing hard.

"Laura?" Ben appeared in the doorway. "Who was that?"

"Someone very ANNOYING who needs to GO AWAY." I said huffily. "Because he's shown VERY CLEARLY that he has NO USE for me anymore by going and having an AFFAIR with a girl who's TWICE my cup size…"

I trailed off into unintelligible mutterings.

"Ah." Ben said, looking uncomfortable. "Well… I think Daphne needs to be put to bed."

"Right." And before I could do anything like think I leaned over and kissed Ben. Then I picked up Daphne and went into her room, my cheeks flushed.

After I rocked my daughter to sleep and tucked her in, I climbed into bed. But though my body was exhausted, my brain refused to shut off. Otto kept ricocheting around my brain like something that had exploded.

_He must be missing me…_

Could he honestly be having second thoughts about Ana? And what would happen if he did? Would _we _start hooking up behind Ana's back like he had done? Or would he just leave her like he'd thrown me out? But then there was Ana's baby…

There was a knock on my door. I sat up and turned on the light next to my bed. "Ben?"

Ben came in, holding a mug. He sat down next to me and handed it to me. I sniffed it. "Hot cocoa?"

"I wasn't sure if you liked marshmallows or whipped cream," Ben said. "So I got both. Is that okay?"

"Yes, fine!" I smiled. "Thanks."

We sat in silence as I sipped it.

"Can I… stay in here tomorrow?"

My face went tomato red. "Uh… I like you… but I'm not sure I'm ready for… that-"

"No." Ben's face was all red now too. "Not like that… I just thought you might like some company."

"Oh." I said. "In that case… I think I'd like that."

"Good."

I scooted closer to him, slipping one arm around his waist.

"Are you ever going to go back to Otto?" Ben whispered.

I closed my eyes.

"Sometimes I wish I could… but I don't think we'll ever be the same…"


	52. Recall

Blu forced herself up onto her knees. The woman with the blue eyes stared at her. Blu frowned. _She should be dead. _But she could handle that. She reached into her boot for her sword.

_Wait a moment. _

Why would she do something like keep her sword in her boot? She started to withdraw her hand but felt it brush against something. She pulled it out.

A _stick_?

Blu shook her head. The time she'd taken to wonder about the boot/stick/sword debacle had allowed her to finish healing. She stood up and advanced on the woman.

"Don't be ridiculous." The man- Dr. Nero- was saying. "That's impossible.

"Can't you see?" the woman snapped. "She's the spitting image of her!"

"I'll admit they do look sort of alike." Nero said. "But there's no ground to make up things like that-"

"You're the one who brought it up-"

Blu slammed into her, knocking her easily to the ground. Then their eyes met-

BAM!

All of the sudden, she was somewhere else. Lying somewhere. On a bed, maybe. She couldn't raise her head or sit up, and her body was very small. She must be really little, a baby even. The woman was sitting next to her, reading, only now she was more of a girl, only seventeen.

The door opened and another girl stepped in. A red hood hid her face in shadow. She was carrying an orange cat.

"Vanessa?" the girl asked.

"I'm sorry." Vanessa said. "I'm so, so sorry…"

She reached down and picked Blu up.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

The door opened and another person came in- the woman from her dream, the one in the fancy dress. Only she too was younger. "Hello again, Natalya."

Natalya tried to grab Blu back from Vanessa. "You! Get out of here!"

"Sorry, Natalya." The woman laughed. "The plan is already in motion. It cannot be stopped."

Vanessa made a whimpering noise and clutched at Blu. The woman pulled a large gun and pointed it at Natalya.

"Show her your face, Vanessa." The woman hissed.

The girl pulled off her hood. Her face matched Natalya's exactly. Natalya screamed. The woman pointed the gun at her.

ZAP!


	53. Acting

**This chapter is really long... **

**Natalya**

It took me a little while to figure out where- _when_ I was. It was the dress that cinched it- blood red. I was back at that horrible, stupid party. People were running and panicking. My dress was stained with blood. Mark was holding my hand so tightly I couldn't feel my fingers.

"We've got to get out of here." I said.

"No kidding." He smirked. "Well then, let's move."

We started pushing through the crowd until we found Nero. He looked upset. "She's here, Natalya."

I clutched at Mark's arm. "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes." Nero said grimly. "I think there's a way out. I want to take her with me."

He was talking to Mark now, ignoring me like I didn't matter. Well, fine. I looked around. I couldn't see anything interesting- just boring people. I yawned. Mark turned me to face him.

"You're going to go with Nero, okay?"

"I heard the conversation." I snapped. "I'm not an idiot."

"I know." He kissed my forehead. "Calm down. I'll be right behind you, I promise."

I detached myself from Mark and gripped Nero's arm. "See you in a few minutes."

I took off, dragging Nero behind me. He couldn't run as fast as I could. We reached a door on the lower level. It was locked. I pulled a pin out of my stupid elaborate hairstyle and picked it. We burst out into the night.

I looked around. "Where's Mark?"

"Natalya-" Nero started to drag me down the street. "Come over here and get _down_-"

BOOM.

There was a huge explosion. Pieces of the building behind us skyrocketed into the dark night. I shielded Nero instinctively. A searing piece of metal hit my shoulder and I cried out.

When the worst of the explosion seemed to be over, I got off Nero and looked around. All I could see was rubble.

"Mark?" I ran toward the remains of the building. "MARK?!"

Nero grabbed my shoulders. "He would have been vaporized by the explosion, Natalya. He's gone."

I started crying. Which I'd done exactly four times in my life before then. At least I had an excuse.

"I'm pregnant." I choked out.

Nero put his arms around me. "Sorry, didn't catch that-"

"I'm going to have a baby!" I yelled. My voice was shaking.

Nero stared at me. "You should have told me."

"What, so you wouldn't have ordered him to blow himself up if you knew he was a father?!" My tears started coming again. "I HATE YOU!"

The black night and the rubble changed into a room. I was lying on the floor. My bathrobe was gone, replaced by Nero's jacket. He was sitting next to me.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You have been captured."

I looked up and saw Overlord. He looked down at me with disdain. "And is this your girlfriend, Dr. Nero?"

He didn't know who I was. Which makes sense. The one time he saw me, my face was covered in scars. I had them removed, though, after I got back to H.I.V.E.

"No-" Nero started but I stepped hard on his foot. I have the feeling I wouldn't survive long if I didn't do something fast.

"Yes." I gave Overlord my biggest smile. "I'm Serena Day." It was the first name that popped into my head.

"And how old are you?"

He thought I was cute, of course. Almost all males do, somewhere deep down. Technically, I'm 42, but I looked like I was thirty 30 and if I pushed it I guess I could be in my twenties.

"Twenty six." I said.

"Oh?"

"Yes." I stood up, 'accidentally' letting Nero's jacket flap open as I did so. I made my eyes as big as possible and stared at him. "Can't you let us go?"

"No." He said.

I dug my fingernails into into my leg so hard tears sprang into my eyes. "B-but…" I started sobbing, pretty convincingly, I thought. "But… I WANT TO GO HOME!"

Geez. If I hadn't been a ninja assassin, I should have been an actress.

Overlord gave me a sympathetic look. "Blu!" he called.

The woman from the hotel appeared. "Yes?"

"Take the girl back to your rooms. Get her fixed up and stick her in that red dress. Then bring her to me. Understand?"

"And Nero?" Blu said. Her face was stiff and expressionless.

"Get him a cell after your done with her." He patted my head. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

Oops. I may have done that a little _too_ well...


	54. Lucky

I stared at my reflection in the small mirror. The red dress was clearly designed to show as much of me as possible while still being clothed. Normally I would have rather eaten glue then wear something like this, but for today it was an absolute necessity. Blu had also forced me into a chair and applied makeup. Which actually looked pretty good.

"I apologize for him." Blu said. I was starting to get used to her- she was a little bit like Wing, in a way.

"Oh, it's fine, I flirt with people for work all the time." I tossed my hair over my shoulder. "Were you on the menu?"

"I suppose." Blu shrugged. "If by being on the menu you mean he asked me to dress up and come to his rooms."

"That's exactly what I mean." I yawned. "Ah well. I'm used to it. "

"I hope you will be okay." She seemed sincerely concerned for me- strange, seeing as a few hours ago we had been opponents. "If there are children, I will help you look after them."

"Don't be stupid." I scoffed. "He's a _computer_. He can't have kids."

"He had one with Svetlana Furan." Blu insisted.

"Cherry." I corrected automatically.

"Yes, that woman." Blu shrugged. "Well, good luck."

I was a little nervous. Why would I need luck?

###

Max sat on the floor holding Avery's son. He could still picture her final moments in his head- lying in his arms, soaked with blood, slashed open from throat to hip. She'd clung to him like a lifeline and gasped for him to care for her baby. So here he was, holding an infant in his arms.

Jessa tapped him on the shoulder. "You have to support his head." She took his hand and guided it to where it was supposed to be. Her face went slightly pink from the contact.

"Thanks." Max said.

"No problem." She scooted away, leaving him by himself.

The baby's name was Favian. Jessa seemed to like him a lot. Apparently, she came from a really big family, and was used to looking after little kids. Favian was sort of cute, but Max spent all his time with him wondering if he had fathered him or not.

BANG.

The door to their room opened, and that woman- Lucy Presscott- followed by the bald man who trailed her like a dog, entered.

She stopped and looked up. Max sighed. For some reason, their entire room was decorated with ivy. Some of it fell on Lucy's head. She shrieked and tried to bat it off. The man behind her pulled it off her head.

"What is it, Nigel?" Lucy spluttered. "Is it a spider?!"  
"No." said the man, Nigel. "I believe it's a plant."

"Good." Lucy frowned. "What am I paying you, again?"

"Nothing." Nigel said. There was no bitterness in his voice. "You blackmailed me into working for you." He added under his breath.

"Ah." Lucy tightened her ponytail. "Remind me to double that."


	55. Dangerous

"Uh…" Elia muttered. "Unless I _really_ suck at math… I think that zero times two is…"

"Shush, underling!" Lucy glared at the children. "I have an important mission for the lot of you."

"Okay, what is it?" Holly asked.

"Dr. Nero and Natalya-"

"His girlfriend?" Jessa asked.

"Why does everyone ask that?" Lucy grumbled.

"Because everyone wants them to be a couple?" Scott asked.

"ARRRG- you know what, never mind about them going out, let's just focus on the fact that they were kidnapped." Lucy snapped. "And so now you need to rescue them."

"Why us?" Alan asked.

"Because you have training." Lucy shrugged. "And you know the territory. We believe that Overlord probably is responsible for the abduction."

"Wait…" Max said. "Where were they?"

"They were staying in a hotel." Lucy said.

"Together…?" Jessa said with a smirk.

"ARGGG!" Lucy snapped. "Enough about the whole couple thing! You're leaving in about ten minutes, so get ready."

"Okay." Max set Favian down. Elia stood up. Alan scratched his nose. Jessa beamed at her.

"Ready to go!"

###

**Natalya**

Overlord had me pressed up against the wall. I gasped and closed my eyes, trying not to think about what was going on. Max flashed through my head. Okay, so maybe he'd tried to make a move on me but he was a lot more _gentle_ then Overlord. I let a small cry of pain slip from my lips.

"Don't do that." Overlord hissed. "It's distracting me."

"From what?" I snapped. "How hot I am?"

"That's very selfish of you." He murmured.

"Selfish?" I said.

He twirled me around. "Are you thirsty, Serena?" he said.

"A little." I giggled. (I'm pretty sure I've never giggled before… except for that one time when Mark- okay, you know what, never mind.)

"Here." He let go of me-_ finally_- and walked over to the kitchen cabinet. He pored me a glass of clear liquid. I _was _really thirsty, so I gulped it down.

Instantly, I knew that I'd done something really, really stupid. It burned like fire.

_Dang it._

"Was that… poison?" I whispered.

"No." He slipped his arm around my waist again. "It was something _much_ better then that."

I giggled again. I took a step towards him. "Can I have some more?"

He poured more into my glass. "Here you go."

I took another sip. I discovered that I liked it a little.

Figures. Dangerous things have always been my weakness.


	56. Freak

I spun around and collapsed into Nero's arms. "Hey."

"Hey… Serena." His eyes were full of concern. "You okay?"

"Oh…. I feel great…" I giggled again. I seemed to be doing that a lot this evening.

"You're in your underwear and you just giggled." Nero gave me a Look. "Did Overlord poison you or something?"

"No, he gave me something much better." I rubbed my face against his shoulder. "Mmm… wanna snuggle?"

He cupped my face in his hands. "You're all red… have you been drinking, Natalya?"

"Mayyyyybe…" I batted my eyelashes. "So you want love or not?"

"I want love." Nero rolled his eyes. "But not when you're drunk."

"What?" My face flushed. "NO, I'M NOT!" I shoved him away from me, then started giggling uncontrollably.

Nero sighed. "It's not the end of the world. Just go set down before you fall and kill yourself."

"I was gonna do that." I laughed. "Remember?"

He got quiet. "Yes."

"You stopped me." I frowned. "Why did you stop me? I'm useless." I spun around in a circle. "I can't do anything right-"

"Stop that, Natalya." Nero growled.

"Stop what?" I tilted my head. "Spinning?"

"Stop talking about yourself like that." Nero said calmly.

"It's only the truth."

"No, it's not." He grabbed my arm. "And I told you to STOP PUTTING YOUSELF DOWN."

"Sorry…" I trilled. "Don't you hate yourself too? You're a villain, after all."

"I accepted that a long time ago." Nero said. "It no longer troubles me."

"Trouble, that's all you are." I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

"I believe you are more trouble then I am." Nero said, sitting down on the cot in his cell.

"Yeah, I'm a hot mess." I laughed. "Emphasis on _hot_."

"Well, you certainly are that." He slid one arm around my waist. "Come on, Natalya. Stop acting stupid and come here."

###

Blu stood next to Overlord. "What did you do to her?"

"Do to who?" Overlord said coolly.

"Serena Day. Are you going to do that to me too?"

"Are you trying to defy me?" He laughed. "Go on. Do it."

"I think- I think-" All of the sudden, her head felt like it was going to explode. She clapped her hands over her ears and fell to the ground screaming.

"See, you can't." Overlord said with a smirk. "It's biologically impossible for you."

"You're… in my head." Blu gasped. "…why?"

"I created you." Overlord said.

"That's impossible-"

"You were cloned from another person and manipulated so you would be better, stronger then your human counterpart." Overlord laughed. "You're just a freak, Blu. And you're never going to be anything else."

Blu gasped a couple of times, then turned on her heels and sprinted a few feet before taking off into the air.


	57. Cloned

Otto set the gun down as he sat down at the computer, wiping the blood off his hands onto his jeans. This had been the only part of his plan he was nervous… well, more then a little nervous about. He dashed off a quick email to the address he'd found in Ana's contacts after he'd hacked her account, and leaned back. Pretty soon, he'd have everything he wanted-

He heard a knock at the door. He stood up and opened it. For a moment, he didn't recognize the soaked figure standing there.

"Code Name?" he said.

"My name is Blu." She said.

"You look cold." He guided her in and led her to the couch. "Here, let me help you take that off."

"I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself." Blu sniffed. She removed her soaked blouse and jeans, tossing them on the floor. "Do you have clothes for me?"

"Oh, I like you much better like that." Otto put his hands on her hips.

"Is that all you ever think about?" Blu asked. "Romance?"

"Pretty much." Otto admitted. "So what's a girl like you doing here?"

"I'm not a person." She sniffled.

"You seem pretty human to me… and a pretty well-made model at that."

"No." Blu said. "I'm not what I seem. I'm a clone."

"Join the club." Otto said.

Blu froze. "What, you're one too?"

"Yes." Otto said.

"Weird." Blu muttered.

"What, you think I'm weird? Because I know way stranger people-"

"No, weird that I met the one person that I probably have that in common with." Blu leaned against his shoulder.

"It's like we're supposed to be together." Otto pulled her very close to him.

Blu laughed. "Yeah, you could say that…"

###

**Natalya**

I opened my eyes. I was naked, pressed up against someone else. And I had a heck of a headache. I stood up and went into the tiny bathroom. I was in a cell- Nero's cell, because Overlord had captured us… Overlord… the memories of last night came rushing back to me. I gasped, than was promptly sick all over the floor. Great.

I cleaned up, then went back into the other room where I found a pair of brown pants and a pink camisole my size. I put them on, then sat down on the floor, trying to think. But what kept flashing through my brain was how I'd acted last night. I'd disgraced myself… and also put myself at risk of the one thing I was most terrified of, because of how badly I'd messed up last time…. And I'd just thrown up… awe, _crap…._

"Natalya?"

I turned and saw Nero sitting up. "Er… hi."

"Are you back to normal then?" he said.

"I… I suppose so."

"Then come here." Nero said. "I'm not finished with you…"


	58. The Real World

**Laura**

It was nice to have someone next to me, but strange to not have them practically on top of me as Otto always was. Ben stayed pretty much on the other side of the bed, but one of his hands rested carefully on my leg. I lay there for a few minutes, staring at the golden glow at the outline of my curtains and knowing I should get up. Finally, I heard Daphne start to cry, and so I stood up.

After I'd taken care of her, I checked my email. There was one message… from Otto.

_How had he gotten my email address?_

It was marked 'urgent', so I opened it.

_Shelby is hurt. You should come back to see her._

Shelby was… _hurt_? But Shelby was practically indestructible…

She was my best friend. I had to be there.

###

Blu yawned as she slowly sipped at her coffee. She didn't particularly like it, but it was necessary after spending virtually the whole night in Otto's arms.

"Blu?"

"Yeah?" she said.

"You need to leave." Otto said.

"Why?" Blu bit her lip. "I like it here. I don't want… I don't want to…" She jammed her hand over her ears again as her head started to hurt. "I don't want to go back!"

"Not for forever." Otto said. "But I have to go to the hospital and my girlfriend… she won't like you being here."

"Oh. I understand." Blu said. "Can you give me some clothes to change into?"

"Yep." Otto said. "Ana's got so much stuff she probably won't notice a few things missing. But you have to hurry. Bryony and Iris will wake up soon."

"I'll go." Blu said. "May I come by later?"

"Sure, go right ahead." Otto said. "Wait until it's late, though, okay? I don't want anyone to know about us."

"Why? Is there something wrong?" Blu blinked. "Am I not good enough?"

"No… you're just only supposed to see one person at a time, and since I've already broken that rule…" Otto shifted his weight nervously. "Where did you grow up, Blu?"

"I do not know." Blu said. "I just woke up one day and I was fourteen."

"Well… you have a lot to learn about the real world." Otto said.

"The real world?" Blu frowned. "What makes this world so real and the other not?"

"More people live in this one." Otto smiled.

Blu went into Otto and Ana's room and came out wearing a black leather jacket over a white shirt, a white skirt and a pair of white boots.

Otto winced. _Vanessa used to always dress like that…_

"What?" Blu said.

"Uh… that coat's too thin." Otto invented. "You'll freeze."

Blu frowned. "But it's May."

"You'll freeze anyway." Otto insisted. "May is known to be uniquely cold in this world."


	59. Awakening

**Ana**

As I walked towards my apartment building, I saw a figure in my window. As I watched the window was opened and a woman- wearing _my_ clothes!- poked her head out. Then she jumped forward into the air. Her wings expanded out of her back- tearing a hole in my jacket!- and she soared upward into the air.

What the heck was going on?

Then all of the sudden I got it.

Otto was seeing someone behind my back. (This didn't really explain the wings/flying bit, but I was taking it one thing at a time)

Now, Normal Me would have marched right up to Otto and demanded what I was doing, but this was not Normal Me. This was Sleep Deprived, On A Lot Of Painkillers, Pregnant Me. So what I did was burst into hysterical tears.

Peter, who was with me, put an arm around my shoulders. "Hey! You okay?"

"Oh…" I was about to explain what was going on when all of a sudden it felt like my head was going to explode. I was also filled with a deep, terrible hatred for Otto. I sank to the pavement, hugging my chest. It felt like something was trying to break out of my forehead.

"Ana?" Peter knelt beside me. "Are you alright?"

"No, I am not all right!" I snapped. "I- _ohhhh…_" Everything spun, changing from black and white to sepia like an old photograph, to back to color but too, too bright… I closed my eyes shut but it just got brighter and brighter.

I could hear someone screaming. Maybe it was me-

Then it all stopped.

I stood up, slowly. Peter was staring at me.

_No, Pietor. That was his name, remember?_

I didn't _feel_ any different… but I could remember the things I couldn't before. The gaps had been filled in… but now I wished that they hadn't.

"Ana?!" Peter repeated.

"'M all right." I grunted. I felt groggy, like I'd just woken up from a long nap.

"Let's get you inside." He slung me over his shoulder like I was a doll.

"Okay." I mumbled.

I wasn't sure what had just happened… but I knew that nothing was ever going to be the same again.


	60. Reserection

**Peter**

Ana clung to my neck like it was a life-saving device. She gasped in my ear and suddenly screamed.

"Jeez, you okay?" I asked.

"I… I…" She coughed. "It feels like something inside me is trying to get out."

I got into the elevator and punched in the button for her floor.

"I want to go back to the hospital." Ana whispered.

"No." I said. "You have medical supplies and stuff, right? You're a villain. We can do what we can for you and call an ambulance. It'll be faster, anyway."

"No!" Ana yelled. "Did you hear me?" Her voice had changed, becoming colder. "Did you not hear me? I said I wanted to go to the hospital. You take orders from me, understand?"

"Ana-"

"THAT MEANS WHEN I SAY SOMETHING, YOU FOLLOW MY INSTRUTIONS." I got a glimpse of her face. Her expression was scarily cold. "Or you'll be executed."

"Go ahead and try." I snapped.

"I… sorry." Ana gasped, then started coughing again. "I don't know… what just happened…"

"Just shut up, okay?" I snapped. "We're almost there. Hold it together for three seconds and then we'll be okay."

"I don't know if I can."

There was a ding and the doors opened.

"Don't talk like that. You're going to be fine." I ran down the hallway and banged on Otto's door. "Hey! Let us in- Ana's hurt!"

He opened the door. "What's wrong?" He reached to take Ana from me but she jerked back.

"Don't touch me, Malpense." She snarled, her voice changing again.

"Ana!" I glared at her. "What's gotten into you?!"

"Stop calling me Ana!" she yelled.

"Please call an ambulance." I instructed Otto. He dashed off. I dragged Ana into the apartment and set her down on the couch. I put my hand over her stomach.

"Is it the baby, Ana?" I asked.

"I don't know." She was back to normal again. She covered her mouth with her hand. "I feel… I don't know… maybe…"

"Just keep breathing, okay?" I asked.

"It's not anything that can be fixed by a doctor." Said a voice. I turned around and saw Zoe behind me. She held out her hand.

"You need to come with me."


	61. Deception

**Laura**

I took a deep breath before I went into Ana's apartment. I touched the sheath on my arm, under my jacket. I had a knife, if it was a trap. It would be fine.

Ana was sprawled on the couch. She was really pregnant now, and her chest was heaving from her uneven breathing. She was so pale, she must have been sick.

"Lau… ra?" she gasped.

"Are you okay?" I asked. "You look… well, awful."

"Well if it isn't Laura Malpense."

I looked up. "Brand, actually. I want a divorce."

Otto smirked. "Well, it's a little too late for you to grow yourself a backbone, sweet." He stepped forward and grabbed my arm. "I want Daphne."

"Daphne?" I said. "Who's Daphne?"

"Oh, don't play dumb." he scoffed. "The baby you gave birth to a month ago."

"What do you want with Daphne?" I demanded.

"She's my daughter. My property."

"Your property? That's the biggest-"

"Stop fooling around and give me her." Otto snarled. He pulled a gun from his pocket.

"No. She's back home. Besides, I don't want to give her to you." I stepped back. "And where's Shelby? Didn't you say she was hurt?"

"I neglected to tell you that I was the one who hurt her." Otto said.

"You hurt her?! Why?

"For the same reason I'm doing this." He fired.

The bullet tore through me, sending me backward. I landed on next to Ana on the couch.

"You shot her!" Ana yelled.

"Be quiet or I'll hurt you." Otto threatened.

I got up. Despite the pain, I was laughing.

"What's so funny?" Otto asked, his lips pulled back in a snarl.

"Otto might have ignored me… and treated me badly sometimes." I clapped my hand over the wound in my stomach. "But he would never really hurt me."

"Well, I just did." He smirked. "Clearly, you are less informed then you thought."

"No." I smiled. "You can stop pretending now… _Overlord._"


	62. Attack

**Laura**

Ana gasped. "What? No. You're wrong… I would know-"

Her body suddenly doubled over with spams. Then she sat up. "Please help me- I'm stuck here in this stupid place. Take me away!"

Otto… or Overlord or whoever he was, smirked at her. "You are of no used to me in that body, Anastasia."

"I-" Ana started coughing again. She collapsed backwards.

"How long have you been in control of him?" I asked.

"Years now." Overlord said.

"Yeah, but how long?" I repeated.

"Since Iris was born." He said.

"So with Ana…. The real Otto doesn't feel that way?" My heart started fluttering nervously. I shook my head. _Don't let yourself hope. You'll only be disappointed. _

"I have no idea." Overlord said.

"Get out of him now!" I screamed.

"Uh-uh-uh…" He smirked at me. "I don't take orders from girls, especially ones in _your_ condition."

"Okay, you know what, get out of him _now_!" I moved forward, but I had forgotten about my injury and the small effort made the world spin.

Ana stood up. "Would you like for me to dispose of her for you?"

"Yes, that would be great." Overlord turned. "I have other things to do. Oh, and get rid of her body when you're done, will you? And those two girls'."

"Two… girls… IRIS! BRYONY!" I shrieked, starting to move towards their bedroom. But Ana grabbed me and pinned me down.

"You aren't going to fight me now, are you?" Ana said, smirking. "That wouldn't be in your best interest-"

"Don't talk to me!" I yelled. I didn't want to fight. Bryony and Iris… they might be dead…

Ana suddenly gasped again, turning to grab the table.

Without hesitating, I grabbed my knife and sank it into her back.

Ana screamed.

"I'm sorry." I hissed. "I'm really, really sorry."

I started after Overlord.


	63. Loss

**Natalya**

It was hours before I could get away from Nero. I was curled up on the edge of the cot. Nero's arms were around me.

"Can you stop?" I said quietly.

He let go of me. "What?"

"Leave me alone. Let me breath for a few minutes."

He released me. I took a few slow breaths and rubbed my stomach. "Do you know if there's anything to eat around here?"

"No." Nero sighed. "Sorry. I just haven't… for ages and ages."

"No it's okay." It's not okay. I'm exhausted and famished and I feel like I'm going to be sick. Because how you feel about me is sickening. But I didn't say anything, because this was all our relationship was- pretend.

"Are you okay with this?" Nero asked.

Not at all. "Yes."

"Don't worry." He started rubbing my shoulder. "There's no way we'll have kids or anything."

"I'd kill you if we did." I said quietly.

"I know you would." He laughed.

"Or I'd kill the baby." I continued.

Nero glanced at me. "You're serious."

"I'm always serious." I said.

"You wouldn't really." Nero said. "Right?"

I didn't answer.

###

I staggered into a bedroom. "Iris! Bryony!"

I heard a faint groaning from somewhere near. I forced myself to run.

As I entered the room, I knew something was wrong. I could smell blood when I went through the doorway. Iris was lying on her bed, Bryony curled up like a cat against her. The sheets were soaked in red.

I shook Iris's shoulder. "Iris? Iris! ANSWER ME!" She didn't stir. I grabbed her wrist, feeling for a pulse. Nothing.

I collapsed onto the bed, sobbing. At the noise, Bryony lifted her head a little. I rushed over to her. "Oh, god! By! Are you okay, sweetie?"

"It hurts…" Bryony groaned.

I scooped her up and rocked her slowly back and forth. "It's okay. It's all going to be better now."

"Momma…" She smiled at me. I took her hand in mine. Bryony had been the first child I'd had on purpose. She was always sweet and kind to everyone, and the past few months she'd had to deal with Ana and Otto leaving…

"Everything's going to be okay." I repeated. I pulled out my cell phone and stabbed at the buttons, dialing 911. Bryony gasped. Her tiny body shuddered. Then she was still.

I dropped the phone and collapsed. _No. No no no no… this can't be happening…_

But it was. And there was nothing I could do about it.

I clenched my fist, tears streaming down my face. "Overlord… you better look out."


	64. Theft

Lucy darted into her quarters. She glanced over her shoulder. She had the feeling that someone was following her.

"Oh, it's only you." She smiled at Madelyn, but did not relax. Something told her that something bad was happening.

Madelyn smiled back. She looked around furtively, then her smile widened. "Give it to me?"

"Give what to you?" Lucy stepped back. But she already knew what Madelyn wanted… what everyone had always wanted. Her number one problem- the Eternal Locket.

"You know what I want." Madelyn smiled.

Lucy turned and started to run. Madelyn laughed, and all of the sudden was in front of her again. "You can't get away from me that easily, Delastelle."

"My last name was Presscott, last I checked." Lucy growled.

"Stop trying to pretend." Madelyn took a step forward.  
"Or what?" Lucy said, crossing her arms.

"Or Nigel Darkdoom is going to find himself in a very sticky situation indeed." Madelynn hissed.

_Damn._ Lucy thought. _How does she know about that?_

"It's obvious." Madelyn said. "Now _give it to me!_"

Lucy put her hand on the clasp of the locket. "But you're one of us- one of the good guys-"

Madelyn laughed. "I thought you knew… none of us are _good_, Luchia…"

###

Overlord smiled as he headed for the car. He was going to make a clean get away-

"HA-RAH!"

Something flew out of the sky and landed in front of him. The woman- Laura- stood up. She looked upset.

"How dare you hurt my children!" she screamed, launching herself at him.

Overlord frowned as he blocked her clumsy attack. She shouldn't have been jump from that height… and yet somehow she had not only survived but was also completely uninjured-

All of the sudden he was knocked backwards. He stumbled in astonishment. That pathetic girl-

"You killed Ana, then?" he hissed.

She faltered a little. "Does it matter?"

"Not really." Overlord said.

"I'm still going to kill you." Laura spat.

"I know." Overlord said. "I'm looking forward to your pathetic quest for revenge."

Laura smiled.

"Then what are we waiting for?"


	65. Weakened

**Ana**

I clawed at the carpet, trying to breathe. But I couldn't. I was in so much pain… I just wanted it to stop…

And then all of the sudden, it did. Well, it got a lot less all of the sudden. I slowly sat up. There was blood slowly tricking down my back… and another gaping hole in my side. Huh. Where had that come from? I was weak… I needed help, fast. I called out wordlessly, but there was no response. Then Laura appeared. She was stumbling from her injury, and making a horrible sobbing noise.

"Laura?" I yelled. She didn't seem to notice me. She ran to the window and shattered it with a kick. Then she leaped out of it.

Was she trying to kill herself? I groaned and shifted slightly. Well, there was no way that I was going to get any help. I was going to have to take care of myself. I pulled off my shirt and jammed it into the injury in my stomach. Then I turned to my couch and slowly hauled myself up onto it. I leaned back against the cushions and reached for a glass of water on the table next to me.

Then I heard someone crying. A child.

I jammed my hands in my ears. I was too tired… I didn't have time to take care of Bryony right now. But… this didn't sound like Bryony.

I looked down at the floor and saw… something. I leaned down and picked it up. It was…a baby girl, impossibly small and covered in blood.

What was going on? I rocked her back and forth until she stopped crying. I had a theory about what might be happening… but that couldn't be possible.

Then again, this was my life, so who knows?

###

**Laura**

I didn't even know what I was doing as I fought Overlord. But I seemed to be winning. At the fair least I was driving him backwards, towards the car.

Then he opened the door, grabbed me and pulled me inside. He pushed me down into the seat. I gasped.

I didn't understand what I was feeling. _It's just because he looks like Otto._ I told myself.

He started to kiss me.

_Great._ I tried to struggle but it was pointless. The adrenaline and anger that had fueled me earlier was gone. The pain from my wound and the grief over Bryony and Iris was starting to sink in. Not knowing what else to do, I started to kiss him back.

I could just stay here…

_No!_ I gritted my teeth and started moving my kisses towards his neck.

Then I bit down as hard as I could and tore sideways.


	66. Fallout

Overlord went still, blood streaming from the wound in his neck. He gasped, then whispered "Laura?"

His voice had changed. I realized that I could pin-point a time when Otto had changed, becoming harder and crueler…

"I'm here." I squeezed his hand.

"What happened…?" he whimpered.

"Something bad." I kissed his cheek. "But it's okay now…"

"Ah…" Otto turned his head away from me. "Stay here, okay? Stay here…" He closed his eyes.

My heart started to pound, fear racing through me. I grabbed his wrist. But he was still breathing.

_What was I going to do now?_

Iris and Bryony were dead… Otto was badly hurt… Ana was probably dying…

"Laura?"

I turned around and saw Ben rushing towards me, holding Daphne. I ran over to him and hugged him. I was crying again. Daphne started to wail too.

"What's wrong?" Ben caressed my face.

"I don't want to talk about it…" I hugged Daphne even tighter.

"Okay." Ben said. He looked me up and down. His eyes widened. "Laura, you're hurt!"

"Yeah, I guess." I sat down in front of the car, kissing Daphne's head.

"I'm going to call an ambulance." Ben said.

"And call Shelby." I added.

###

The hospital bed wasn't very comfortable, but it still felt good to be relaxing. I just wanted to sleep…

Ben came in, followed by a wave of hyperactive best friend.

"LAURA!" Shelby shrieked. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH YOUR HAIR!?"

"Er." I said.

"YOU HAVEN'T BEEN EXFOALIATING PROPERLY!" Shelby shrieked. "AND WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WASHING YOUR FACE WITH!?"

"…soap?"

"SOAP!?" Shelby drew herself up to her full height. "Laura Anne Malpense, what have I told you about-"

"Shelby." Ben said quietly.

"Oh, yeah." Shelby sat down on my bed. "I forgot about you being traumatized, and all that jazz…. I'M PREGNANT!"

"What?" I sat up. "Wow. So that was what that email was about, huh?"

"Yeah… I forgot I sent that. Did you not read it?"

"I don't speak hyperactive Trinity." I said, rolling my eyes. "Or read it."

"Oh, pshaw!" Shelby waved her hand. "So I heard that that little department store that has super cheap prices is having a sale this weekend-"

Here we go again…


	67. Lost

**Xander**

I stumbled backwards. The figure in black stood over me. They weren't very tall… they couldn't have been much older then me.

"Give me the code." said the voice. It was a girl's voice, slightly familiar.

"I- I don't have it." I said.

"Then why are you guarding the door?" said a boy's voice.

I stood up. "I'm just waiting for a friend, that's all."

"You were captured too, weren't you?" the girl asked. She pulled off her mask. She had long red hair and bright green eyes.

"Uh, yeah." I said.

"We're going to rescue all off you." The boy also removed his mark. His hair was dark, but he had the same expression and eyes as the girl.

"But… I thought we were only supposed to get-" said another boy's voice.

"Natalya and Dr. Nero." said an identical voice, but from a different figure.

"How many of you are there?" I asked.

"Uh…" said the first girl. "Me, Max… Elia, Alan, Holly… Jinx and Dmitri… who am I forgetting?"

"Me." Said one of the boys with the same voices.

"Right, Tolya. That makes… eight." The girl turned to the two boys who had spoken. "And yes… we are only supposed to rescue those two. But… since we're here, we might as well save the others as well…"

"But that would go against Lucy's orders…" said a girl's voice.

I blinked. "_Jinx_?"

"Hey, Xander." She yanked off her mask and grinned at me. Then frowned. "But… I thought you were with your mother?"

"No…" I said. Then I blinked. "Your hair… it's _green_."

"Yep." She ran her fingers through her spikey pixie cut. "Better then pink, huh?"

I didn't really get that, but whatever…

###

**Laura**

"So where's Otto?" I asked.

"Well… he seems to be back to normal." Shelby said. "But…"

"He's in a coma." Ben squeezed my hand. "I think being woken up suddenly after years and years… it was too much for him to handle."

"And Xander?"

"Xander?" Shelby frowned. "Ana said you took Xander with you."

"No…" I said, panic rising inside me. "I always assumed that he was with Otto and Ana…"

"Wow." Shelby sighed. "You guys manage to lose your son for five months and not notice? That's impressive…"


	68. Bulletproof

**I try not to do two chapters in one day... but I couldn't help it because of what happens in this one. **

**Natalya**

I looked up to see the woman with wings glaring down at me.

"You snuck up on me." I frowned. _How had she managed that?_

"Who are you?" She pinned me to the wall. "You say your name is Serena, that you are just some random girl, but you fought me. Who are you, really?"

"I'm called…" _Natalya._

"Go on… she hissed.

"Raven." popped out of my mouth.

"Raven." She tilted her head slightly to one side. "Peculiar name. I am Operative Code-Named Blu."

She started to slam her fist into my chin, but I blocked it. She had a long knife in one hand, and I ducked as it swept towards me face. Then I snatched at her, my fingernails dragging across her face. She winced in surprise and pain as shallow cuts opened on her face. I grabbed at her hair, yanking as hard as I could. Her bun began to unravel. Her grip on me loosened, and I slipped free.

I started to back up, but felt my back pressed up against a glass wall. Where had that come from? As I glanced around, searching for a weapon, her foot caught me in the stomach. I stumbled, but quickly attached back. We struggled for a few minutes, and I became aware of Nero on the other side of the wall, watching me with horror. Suddenly his mouth opened and I realized he was saying something. I strained to hear-

I was lifted off my feet by Blu. She slammed me into the wall again, only this time we were ten feet off the ground.

"Do you know about children, Miss Raven?" she said coldly.

"No." I spat. My shoulders shook as I thought of Vanessa.

"Then you better learn." She let go of me abruptly. I screamed in spite of myself. She caught me a few inches from the ground, then slammed me into it.

Then she was gone.

Nero came running up to me. "Natalya… are you all right."

Her words were echoing around my skull. _You better learn… you better learn… you better learn…_

Did she mean… what I thought she meant?

Was I going to have another child?

If so… I would die first.

"Natalya!"

Oh, right. Nero.

"Don't call me that anymore." My voice was suddenly stronger. "My name is Raven. And we're going to get out of here."

I was mad. Really mad. I'd found myself again and I had a major chip on my shoulder- hell, I'm practically bulletproof.

You better look out, Blu.


	69. Sick

_Zoey giggled as she kissed his cheek. "'Night, Max."_

"_Bye." He slipped back into his room, hoping she wouldn't notice-_

"_Zoey Furan?" said a voice. The light flickered on. Scarlett was standing in the middle of the room, her arms crossed. "Do you have a death wish?"_

"_No, I-"_

"_If you do anything to her- if you do anything with her- Anastasia and Pietor will tear you apart!" Scarlett shuddered. "Literally!"_

"_That won't-"_

"_You were better off chasing Merrin!" Scarlett hissed. "At least she didn't have psychotic siblings- hang on, have you finally realized that she'll never return your feelings?"_

"_She's going have a baby." He said bitterly. "There's no point. Bartholomew gets defensive if I even touch her right now."_

"_It's about time you figured that out." Scarlett sighed, then swayed. He darted forward to catch her before she collapsed. _

"_You okay, sis?"_

"_Yep." Scarlett yawned. "I can scold you in the morning- let's get some sleep."_

"So you're using that name again?" Nero asked.

"Yeah…" Raven shrugged. She stood up and started forward. "Come on. We're getting out of here, right now." She stopped a few feet from the door and turned around. "And what happened here _stays_ here, got it?"

"I-"

"Got it?" She repeated, her hands on her hips.

"You're too much like your mother." He shoved past her towards the door.

"Wait!" She followed him. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

He turned his head so he wouldn't have to look at her. _Just leave me alone. It's too painful to be so close to you… and yet…_

"Max…?" She reached out to take his hand.

He snatched it away from her.

"Max!"

"Leave me alone, Raven." He hissed.

"I never said I loved you! You dragged me into this and then when I want out you get all mad at me!" Raven crossed her arms. "Besides, I'm you're half-brother's daughter and I'm thirty years younger than you! YOU MAKE ME SICK!"


	70. Death

**Ana**

I woke up in the hospital. And the man with red hair was sitting at the end of my bed.

I tried to sit up and yell at him, but my head spun. "What's wrong with me?" I mumbled.

"Your body is deteriorating at a rapid rate." He shrugged. "I tried to give you another round of enhancements to save you, but your body rejected it. So now you're pretty much self-destructing." He shrugged. "Sorry about that, Anastasia, but… you were a pretty crappy minion anyway."

"I'm no one's minion!" I yelled. But he was gone.

He was replaced by the woman with reddish hair, the one I'd had the dream about murdering all those months ago.

"I'm dying." I said again, not quite believing it.

"True." She shrugged. "You wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway, you've had more time than most humans. It was your daughter that finally pushed you over the edge." She sighed. "And thus the cycle continues."

"How much longer have I got?" I asked.

"At most?" She took my hand. "Ten minutes."

"Ten…" I rubbed my head. "But the baby's okay?"

"She'll survive." She shrugged. "Although she may not be perfectly healthy in the future."

"Who am I?" I asked.

"Ana Fabyan."

"I mean, who was I before? What connection do I have to Anastasia Furan?"

"You are Anastasia Furan." She squeezed my hand. "My daughter."

My eyes closed, condemning me to the darkness.

###

Svetlana stood up and started away from Ana's bed. Kaito appeared, glaring out her.

"I don't appreciate you meddling in my affairs."

"And I don't appreciate you period." Svetlana hissed. "Why are you even here?"

"To be honest, I have no idea." Kaito said, turning to go.

"Then leave."

"What do you think I'm doing?" Kaito growled.

"Yeah, well, where are you going?"

"Where do you think?" he smiled. "To go recruit your other children."


	71. Blow it up

**Xander**

"This way." I said. The kids all followed me. I was a little worried. There were a ton of cameras here and we'd probably get caught.

"Don't worry." said the girl, Jessa, as though she had read my mind. "If they find us, we'll fight them off." She smiled at me. I stumbled, and nearly crashed into Jinx.

"Watch it!" Jinx snapped.

"We're almost there now." I said, ignoring her.

"Good." Elia said. "I'm exhausted…"

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Tolya asked.

"That's code for 'Who has a plan?'" added Dimitri.

"Uh… plan?" Max said.

"Blow up the door and get everyone out." I added.

"Works for me." Elia said, smirking.

###

"Lucy!"

She looked up and saw Nigel. "CATCH!" she screamed, and hurled the locket at him.

Nigel, of course, missed. He bent down to pick it up.

"RUN!" Lucy screamed.

Unfortunately, that startled Nigel and the locket slipped from his hand and tumbled over the railing of the balcony, hitting the ground below with a CRACK.

"Sorry!" Nigel started coming closer to her. "Was that important?"

"If I can't take the locket, I'll take your life instead!" Madelynn screamed. She made a furious move towards Lucy, who didn't even hesitate. Years of training took over, and she grabbed Madelynn's neck with her arm and twisted until she heard a crack. She let Madelynn's body drop to the floor and turned to Nigel.

"No. It wasn't important at all."

###

Blu grabbed Overlord's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." He hissed. "Where have you been, Blu?"

"Er-"

"Never mind." Overlord glared at her. "Kill them, Blu!"

"Kill _who_?" Blu asked.

"Nero and Natalya." Overlord hissed. "Fast."

"But why?" Blu asked.

"Since when do you question orders?" Overlord snarled. "Listen to me."

"Got it." Blu said. She frowned. "Oh, and you should know… there's a bunch of kids invading and trying to rescue all the others…"

"Then we'll just blow up the whole damn base." Overlord staggered over to a control panel and pressed a red button that screamed in capital letters "DO NOT PRESS". "And whoever survives survives."

"Er… that doesn't seem like a very good solution." Blu muttered.

"Shut up!" Overlord grabbed her around the waist. Blu's face flushed. "You're coming with me. I know a place where no one will ever find us…"

Blu's shoulder's shook but all she said was "Okay."


	72. Crash and burn

**Natalya**

BOOM!

I instinctively hurled myself over Nero, shrieking as fire licked my body.

"Natalya-" Nero hissed, then stopped as the wind was knocked out of him. I clung tightly to him as the explosion raged around us. When it finally stopped, I pulled myself off of him to assess his injuries. He seemed alright at first glance… but it that was the case, why was he moaning?

"Max!" I shook his shoulders. "Tell me what hurts!"

He groaned and shifted a little. Damn. Something was really wrong with him. I cradled his face in my hands. "Come on. Talk to me."

"Head." He mumbled, just as my fingers found the slick patch of blood in his hair.

I cursed. When I'd pulled him down I must have cracked his head against the cement floor of our cell…. What he really needed was stitches but I didn't have a needle. He'd have to make do with a bandage. I ripped a length of cloth from my shirt and wrapped it around his head, then forced him to sit up, leaning him against me. By now, the pain from my own body was registering. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the skin on my back was bright red, a mess of burns. It looked pretty serious, but I didn't have anything to help so I was just going to have to deal with it. And some of it was probably just from years of torture from Anastasia. I'd gotten the scars on my face and arms fixed, but I saw no need to get rid of the ones no one ever saw… and if they were looking at me there, they would know me well enough to know that I had a million scars.

Now… how to get Nero and me to a safe place?

"Hello?" a voice asked.

I looked up. I automatically knew who this person was, or who he used to be. It was the cocky glint in his eye, the arrogant way he held himself, his brown-blond hair and green eyes… oh, and the fact that he was looking at my chest instead of my face.

"Who the heck are you?" I hissed anyway.

"John Jacobson." He said. _Jacob Johnson._

"Ah." I crossed my arms. "Hey… I could use some help here."

"That's great for you."

"I.e., help." I spat.

"Oh. Right."

###

Peter stared down into the incubator as Ben, Daphne, Shelby and Laura entered.

"So that's Ana's kid?" Shelby asked. "Does she have a name?"

"Yes." Peter said. "Kisa."

"Kisa?" Laura asked.

"It's Russian for kitten." Peter explained.

"I'm going to guess that Ana didn't pick that name." Ben muttered.

"Well, in a way she did." Peter shrugged. "That was the one she hated the most… so yeah. I want her daughter to be completely different from her."

"Here, here." Laura muttered.


	73. Decisions

**Laura**

"We're going to take you to H.I.V.E." Ben said. "Is that okay, Laura?"

"Yeah… yeah… I…" I rubbed my head. "What about Kisa? Who's going to take care of her?"

"Shaesta and I will." Peter said. "I… I want to leave Zoe in your care."

"That means he's annoyed with his little sister and he wants to dump her on you." Shelby added.

"Might as well." I closed my eyes. "We have two empty beds, after all…" I began to cry. Ben pulled me into him. But he didn't say anything. I suddenly remembered Ben's sister, Eileen, who had tried to protect me from Furan and been murdered. I guess he understood that there really was nothing he could say…

The thought of Eileen made me think of my time in the Glasshouse, which made me think of Vanessa. And Vanessa made me think of Natalya…

Geez, so she'd felt this way for the past twelve years? No wonder she was grouchy. And her pain had to be twice mine, because she was the one who had caused Vanessa's death…

"Laura?" Ben asked.

"What?" I snapped out of my thoughts. Peter was rambling on about Zoe. He stopped when I started watching him.

"Sorry." He sighed. "I'm just an overprotective big brother, I guess."

"That's fine." I said. "The age difference is big enough that she's virtually your child."

"Yeah, since Shaesta won't let us have kids…"

"She won't?" That was the first I'd heard of that. "Why?"

"I don't know." Peter shrugged. "Something tells me it wouldn't be a good idea…"

I shifted uncomfortably.

"Ana found out, didn't she?"

"Found out what?" Ben said.

"Whatever you guys are keeping from us." Peter looked down at Kisa. "And it destroyed her."

"Do you want to know?" I said.

"Laura…" Ben grabbed my arm.

"No." Peter said firmly. "I don't think I'm supposed to."

"You don't think your-"

"What happened in the past is the past." Peter shrugged. "If I ever need to know, I can always ask." He started to put his coat back on. "I'll leave in a few days, after she's strong enough to travel." Then he was gone.

"What do we do now?" Ben said.

"Go back home, I suppose." I muttered.

"No, I mean you and me." Ben said. "Because Otto-"

"I don't want to talk about Otto." I said. "Not until he wakes up, anyway…" My expression hardened. "But I'm never having children again."


	74. Getting Out

**Raven (Last time she had a chapter I forgot and wrote Natalya… it was supposed to say Raven)**

Jacob- I know he has another name, but I'm just going to call him Jacob because that's easier for me- helped me drag Nero out of the ruins of our cell. We kept going for a while, until I finally had to rest.

"Who is this guy? Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Geez.

"He's my boss. I'm Raven." I frowned, then added "And we're captured, obviously."

"Who knows?" Jacob shrugged. "You could have been here on vacation."

"Hah." I said. "You're hilarious-"

"Natalya?"

I looked up and saw a head of spiky green hair coming towards me.

"Jinx Johnson?" I called.

"That's me!" She came into view. Xander was following her, along with _her_ sons and that girl with red hair.

"I don't get it." Jacob said. "Are you Natalya or are you Raven?"

"I don't get it." I mimicked. "You're annoying."

"So are you." Jacob said. "I have a right to be confused. So, is Natalya like your middle name or something? Or is your last name Raven?"

"Neither, now shut up." I looked around, looking at _her_ oldest son. "Weren't their more of you?"

"Dead." He said calmly.

"Great." I said. "How the heck do we get out of here?"

"We could walk." I said.

"No." said one of _her_ twins. "It'd take too long."

"Well, what are we supposed to do, fly?"

"Actually…" Xander pointed to the left. "There's a hangar over there. Can anyone here fly a helicopter?"

"I've done it before!" Jinx squealed.

"I seem to remember you epically failing that class." The other twin said, sounding a little nervous.

"Pshaw." said Jinx.

"_I_ will pilot it." I said.

"Aww… you guys are no fun." Jinx crossed her arms.

"Not having a death wish doesn't necessarily mean I'm no fun." I snapped.

"I didn't say you had a death wish… I just-"

"Shut up." Jacob said suddenly.

"Your mean." Jinx said, crossing her arms.

"No, he's right." I held up a finger. "I hear something…"


	75. Natalya's Nightmere

**This is the second-to-last chapter, not counting the epilogue... and I just had to update today because of what happens in it!**

It was… a giant airship. Not a Shroud, but similar enough. It stopped, and the loading ramp lowered.

"Well come on!" said a girl with blond hair standing there. It was the same as with Jacob. I knew who she was. She had brown hair, not blond, but she was wearing five inch heels with her uniform, which cinched it.

"Aida Lily?" I called.

"Alexa Laurel." the blond girl corrected. She turned to the inside of the ship. "Get down a little lower so they can get on!"

As soon as we were safely inside, I found a first-aid kit and was about to give Nero stitches when woke up.

"You're leaning over me with a needle." Nero said. "I'm distinctively worried."

"I'm just trying to help here." I said. "Now hold still… I got you a bunch of new students, by the way."

"No duh." Nero muttered, looking around.

As soon as I was finished, Nero fell into my arms, exhausted.

"Jeez, if you want to cuddle just say so!" I said.

"Sorry." He smirked at me. "Is that what you want, Natalya?"

"I…. I guess."

"Well, you already know what I want." Nero ruffled my hair.

"You already had it." I said quietly.

"No…" Nero said. "That's not what I want."

"Well, then what is it?" I asked.

"I want to have a child." Nero said quietly.

"But you're a guy." I said.

"You know what I mean, Natalya." He pulled me into him. "So…"

"So what?" I felt a shiver creep down my spine.

"So do you want to try again? Have another daughter?" Nero kissed the top of my head. "I love you, you know."

"Sorry, but that is the one thing that I won't do." I slipped away from him. "I have to go give the kids the co-ordinates for H.I.V.E."

As I started walking, all of the sudden the world swam. I heard Nero call my name before my knees buckled and I collapsed.

###

I woke up in the hospital wing. Nero was sleeping in a chair next to me. There were deep shadows under his eyes. Next to him were… all of _her_ kids.

"Hi." said the oldest one, Max.

"Hi." I echoed.

"Hi!" chorused the other two. I couldn't tell them apart.

"Why are you guys here?" I said groggily. I sat up slowly. My back ached.

Nero opened his eyes. "Natalya!" He grabbed my hand. "Natalya… oh, god, I have so much to tell you." He smiled at me. "We're in this together now, us… and our baby."

"Okay…" I muttered. All my dreams of going back to my nice, normal… lonely life evaporated. Stupid Nero and his stupid crush. Ah well. I could deal. It would actually be sort of nice having someone to look after me-

Then his entire statement registered and I screamed.


	76. Shattered

"Natalya?" Nero sounded worried.

With one quick move, I knocked him and the others out. Then I jumped up, scanning the hospital room. Finally I found what I was looking for, tucked away in a cabinet. A scalpel. I was about to slash it across my throat when Nero grabbed my arm.

"You aren't getting away, Natalya." he whispered. "I forbid it."

"But- but I DON'T WANT THIS!" I wailed. "I DON'T I DON'T I DON'T- SOMEONE MAKE IT STOP!" I doubled over, sobbing hysterically. "It's not FAAAAAAAAIIR!"

"Natalya." Nero held me tight. "It will be okay. I'll help you take care of it and everything. You won't have to do anything, sweetheart-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" I wrenched away from him. "I-I-" I clutched the scalpel. "LET ME KILL IT OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

"I'm afraid I can't." Nero pulled me in again, stroking my hair. His touch was light and gentle. "You're upset, I understand that-"

"UPSET?!" I gritted my teeth. "My %*!* )*$ world's been SHATTERED, darn it!"

"Then I'll put it together again." Nero said firmly.

"You I( *$() CAN'T, I KNOW, I've TRIED." I tried to break away from him again. "ALL I WANT NOW IS OUT!"

"No." Nero said. "You're staying right here with me."

"I… I HATE YOU!" I screamed. "WHY can't you *( )*$) ( UNDERSTAND this!?"

"Because I love you, Natalya." He smiled sadly. "Which is something you can't seem to quite grasp either."

"Maybe because no one ever has." I started crying even harder. "Even my daughter just loved Vanessa freaking Winters!"

"It's okay to cry." Nero said softly.

"It better be, because there's no way you're getting me to stop." I sniffled. "Dang… I ruined your shirt…and I'm swearing a *()( blue streak…"

"That's okay, Merrin."

"That's not my name, you know." I smiled tiredly. "That's who you think of me as, isn't it?"

"Yes. Not that you aren't beautiful and wonderful on your own… but it's like you become twice as amazing."

"Yay me." I said slowly.

"Yes, yay you." He kissed the top of my head. "Now why don't you go back to bed, Natalya? You have a hard job ahead of you. And we have stuff to do tomorrow."

"Like what?"

"Iris and Bryony Malpense's funeral." he said sadly.

"Oh, god." I put my hand over my mouth. "Both of them? How's Laura doing?"

"Hanging in there. Doing better then you did, anyway." Nero smiled. "Now you _really_ should get some sleep."

"Okay."

As I snuggled into bed, Nero settled into his place next to me. Huh. I could get used to this…

**And I messed up… THIS is the second-to-last chapter. Whoopsies. **


	77. Funeral

Blu pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders as she sat by the fire.

"Well, that was a fun… unintentional bath." Overlord said, sitting down next to her.

"Yes, next time you intend to push me into the lake fully clothed, tell me first." Blu snapped.

Overlord slipped his arm around her shoulders. "Yeah, next time I'll push you in n-"

"Stop it." Blu said firmly.

"Stop what?" He started running his fingers through her hair.

"That, for starters." Blu pushed him away. "You're going to get it all tangled.

"Not difficult when it's three feet long." Overlord muttered. "You need a haircut."

"O-kay…" Blu frowned. "Could you not sit so close to me? You're breathing down my neck."

"You know, it's about time you produced off-spring." Overlord said.

Blu froze.

"I can make myself look like Otto Malpense." Overlord raised an eyebrow. "If that helps."

Blu smiled. "Yes… that would help. A lot."

###

I clutched the flowers to my chest as I watched Iris and Bryony's caskets lowered into the ground. Ben held me tightly around the waist.

"Sorry." He whispered. "I don't know what to say."

"There's nothing _to_ say." I would have been crying, only I'd cried so much in the past few days I had no more tears.

"You okay, Mum?" Xander squeezed my hand. Next to him were his friends, Jinx, whose hair was now purple, Max, and the twins who I couldn't tell apart. Zoe was standing a few feet away, scribbling in a notebook.

"Yes." I whispered.

"Laura."

I looked up and saw Natalya, or Raven, or whatever she was calling herself at the moment. She squeezed my shoulder. "Hi."

"If you want to talk…" she said warily. I noticed the way she clung to Nero, and how his hand rested over her stomach protectively. Was she…?

"Thanks. I think I'll be okay, though." I said, pulling Daphne closer to me. Apart from awful nightmares, one of the other things that had changed is that I keep thinking of all the ways Daphne and Xander could get taken from me as well. Most of it was pretty unrealistic, but I was going to take super good care of both of them from now on.

"Good to know." Nero said.

I rubbed my arm, looking away from the others. "I… I need to sit down." I mumbled. I started ripping the petals off the flowers and tearing them into tiny shreds.

"Don't do that!" said a voice.

I turned around and saw a girl sitting next to me. She had short dark hair and green eyes…

"I mean, don't kill the roses! They haven't done anything to you! They're perfectly innocent. As a matter of fact, they're inanimate objects. So they can't really do anything. They do even less then babies. And babies do, like, nothing. At least nothing that I can tell. I bet _chickens_ do more than babies do. Speaking of chickens, I had this really yummy fried chicken yester-"

"Who are you?" I whispered.

She grinned at me. "My name is Allyssa Summers! Nice to meet you!"


	78. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

_Kaito stared down at the girl in front of him. "You have contacted them?"_

"_Yeah, I did." The girl frowned. "But I don't get why that was so important. I mean all I-"_

"_Hush." Kaito said coldly. "I'm only keeping you alive as long as you follow my orders."_

"_That's a pretty good incentive." The girl mused. "Okay. Well, you do your planning stuff." She shifted the book bag on her shoulder. "I have math and science due tomorrow, so if you'll excuse me, I gotta get home."_

"_See you tomorrow, Allyssa."_

_###_

_Max stared at Jinx. "What?"_

"_I know who you're mystery girl is." Jinx sat down next to him. "Her name is Vanessa Montov and she's dead."_

"_When?" Max asked._

"_Twelve years ago. She was your cousin." Jinx clapped her hands together. "So, there you go."_

"_Cousin." Max frowned. "So then who were my parents?"_

"_No clue." Jinx said. "Well, I'd just thought you'd like to know- whoopsies!"_

_She fell forward, almost crashing into him. Max blushed._

"_You should_ _go before you kill anyone else." Jessa said sweetly. _

"_Right!" Jinx stood up. Then she kissed Max's cheek. "Bye!"_

_###_

_**Nine Months Later**_

_Nero held Raven's hand as she took the baby into her arms. "And you're sure you're okay?"_

"_Positive. Only I'm getting a headache from your annoying constant questions." Raven snapped. _

"_I can't help being worried about you. That was ten very hard hours and you wouldn't take any painkiller-"_

'_I don't need painkiller." Raven poked the baby in the cheek. "She's all red faced."_

"_She's a newborn, Natalya. They all look like that." Nero kissed her forehead. "So did we agree on the name?"_

"_You can name her." Raven said. She rubbed her head. "I'm too tired."_

"_See, I told you that you should have-"_

"_Don't nag." Raven said firmly. "Alright, to prove I'm not that tired, I'll name her. Her name is Valerie."_

"_Valerie?" Nero shrugged. "Okay, sounds fine."_

"_Great." Raven passed the baby to Nero. "Now get out of my face so I can sleep."_

"_You have a way with words." Nero stroked Valerie's forehead. "And yet everything that comes out of your mouth sounds grouchy and sarcastic."_

"_I love you." Raven said, grabbing his sleeve._

_Nero smiled. "Now that's what I like to hear."_


End file.
